There’s A New Plant-Based Milk In Town And You Don’t Have To Be Vegan To Love It

Photo Credit: Golden Wing

Just last year, a Budweiser producer spoke about the potential of using barley to make many things, including milk alternatives, and now there’s a new barley milk on the market created by Coors Light and Miller Lite maker Molson Coors.

They are calling it Golden Wing Barley Milk, and it is being sold at Sprouts locations in California as well as Whole Foods stores in Southern California. It is a non-alcohol plant-based milk and is made from water, barley, sunflower, oil, pink Himalayan salt, and shiitake mushroom extract.

All these give it a malty taste that reminds one of milk left over after taking cereal. It may seem a little too sweet for milk, however, the brand boasts that it has 60% less sugar, 50% more calcium, and twice as much Vitamin D as the two -percent milk.

Schmidt said: "Golden Wing drinkers are consumers who care about what they put into their bodies. They care enough about the planet to know dairy's harmful impact, and they're confident enough to know what they want to drink."

It has been making positive waves however, despite all that, Molson Coors says they are using a “phased rollout approach” to ensure interest remains. Most feedback from early retailers and consumers shows that Golden Wing has huge potential however it is not a slam dunk, and they have a long way to go before it becomes fact.

Many believe that plant-based products are better nutritionally and for the environment, and the past few years have seen big brands include non-dairy alternatives in their products. Starbucks reportedly offers customers four non-dairy alternatives to milk, while Dunkin’ has three.

Plant-based milk is central to these discussions and has been around for some time now. Industries have known for a long time that they can use their barley waste to make non-dairy milk. However, it has just started becoming popular because of the plant-based diet craze.

Yay or Nay?