The almond milk brand owned by Californian almond co-operative Blue Diamond will launch a range of flavoured milks in a single-serve format.
The 250ml Almond Breeze cartons, which will be distributed locally by allergen food specialist Freedom Foods, will be sold in chocolate, coffee, and coconut varieties.
The company said each serve contained less than 100 calories and was low in saturated fat and free from cholesterol.
The brand already sells a single-serve pack in the US, but the new Tetra Pak varieties in Australia are a global first.
Almond Breeze entered the US market in 2002, then hit Australian shores in 2012 following demand for another dairy-free milk alternative.
The company's Australia and New Zealand company director Roger Ringwood said almond milk was the fastest growing milk in the non-dairy category, now overtaking soy.
He said the latest product particularly suited busy women who wanted a quick, healthy drink at a convenience store or petrol station.
Blue Diamond's almond milk is being produced, using the co-operative’s Californian almonds, by Pactum at its Taren Point facility in south Sydney.
Pactum is co-owned by Freedom Foods and the Perich Group, and its main operation is contract-packing milk using Tetra Pak.
Almond Breeze is made with a small number of natural ingredients, but Ringwood said the ‘expertise’ came in the processing.
“Getting the grinding, blending and treatment of the almonds right in the first place is key and where the skill or the alchemy comes in, the actual formulation is quite simple,” he said.
Ringwood describes the flavour as mild and nutty, which he says complements food and beverages such as coffee, cereal, and smoothies without dominating other flavours.
In Australia, the dairy-alternative category is made up of soy milk, rice milk, almond milks, oat milks, and other grain milks.
In the US, the dairy-alternative category is largely located in the fresh aisle, while in Australia 75 per cent of these products are sold in a shelf-stable aseptic format.
Ringwood said there’s a number of reasons for this, primarily being that in the US “the refrigerator is king and most households have enormous refrigerators”.
