Kerry Group Partners with Unigrain on Dairy Alternatives

Taste and nutrition company Kerry Group is partnering with Unigrain, an Australian producer of plant-based food and beverage ingredients on dairy alternatives, according to various sources.

The partnership will also enhance market growth for the plant-based category in the region.

It is designed to provide food and beverage brands and manufacturers access to a unique combination of ingredients, R&D, and processing solutions that will help them craft oat milk and other applications using Australian-grown oats.

The partnership is a step toward the creation of a dairy alternative expertise ecosystem, where other ingredients and processing partners are invited be part of the collective to accelerate the move towards sustainable nutrition solutions. Kerry will support on technology development, applications and enzymes, flavours, maskers, and nutrition.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Unigrain. As our current supplier of oat flour, Unigrain is now our partner to drive an ambitious plant-based growth plan in keeping with Asia Pacific’s fast-growing dairy alternative industry,” said Christine Giuliano, managing director, Kerry Australia & New Zealand. “Combining our end-to-end capabilities with Unigrain’s unique oat expertise and production infrastructure, we are excited to be the force for change in the next phase of growth in the dairy alternative space.”

Kerry and Unigrain will also create a range of applications for its customers across Asia Pacific. Both companies will recommend each other’s ingredients solutions to their clients with the goal of building a unique space for ingredients and processing partners to deliver top-grade sustainable food and drink. 

“We are proud to be partnering Kerry to help drive awareness, thought leadership and category growth in the dairy alternative sector. In the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, oat milk has overtaken almond as the #2 dairy alternative among new product development in the region. As the leading oat expert in Australia and Asia, our investment in advanced oat milk and oat ingredient production will help drive multiple benefits to these markets," said Fiona May, co-CEO of Unigrain. 

"With our combined expertise, we provide an incredibly strong offering that can deliver highly optimised solutions and enable the development and manufacture of high-quality sustainable functional ingredients, bringing significant value to customers," she added.