East London start-up brings its blended recipes to the mainstream as shoppers look for new alternatives
Lilk (www.lilk.co), the plant-based m*lk brand which blends the best grains and seeds to create great tasting drinks, has launched its two exciting plant-based milks into stores across the UK including Waitrose and Holland & Barrett, following their launch onto Ocado earlier this year. Lilk’s two blends are designed to be all-purpose and extremely versatile, making them highly appealing to shoppers who are both committed vegans, and also the growing market of flexitarians who want to incorporate more plant-based options into their diets.
Lilk is on a mission to prove that taste doesn’t have to come second to sustainability and is passionate about making it possible for people to choose plant-based alternatives for the taste, not just the planet. The brand, set up by a trio of friends in East London during the pandemic, offers two exciting blends of plant-based milks – each one incredibly dairy-like and maximising the best qualities of its ingredients to make the tastiest drinks.
Lilk’s Common Blend
Lilk’s Common Blend (RRP £1.99) is an incredibly dairy-like combination of oat and rice. The Common Blend was designed to combat consumer feedback across the market that the performance, taste profile and texture of plant-based milks weren’t up to scratch, particularly when used in tea and coffee. Lilk’s blend of oat and rice really delivers this performance, with particular attention paid to nailing the perfect cuppa! This barista’s favourite is a smooth, neutral, and very dairy-like blend that’s great for frothing in coffee, pouring in tea, sipping cold, and using in savoury dishes such as in a bechamel sauce.
Lilk’s Lush Blend
Lilk’s Lush Blend (RRP £2.25) uses oat, coconut, and quinoa extract. Joyously creamy, this milk is perfect for at-home treats that deserve a whole-milk feel and is perfect for milk-based drinks which are seeing a huge renaissance with foodies including hot chocolate, turmeric lattes, or iced coffees. Oat creates a neutral base before quinoa’s nutty, sweet notes kick in. Coconut rounds things off with a smooth, creamy feel. A comforting blend that adds a rich flavour to tea and coffee, and is excellent in smoothies, hot chocolate, and sweet bakes, even custard!
In addition to its taste credentials, the brand wants to make it easier than ever for vegans, flexitarians, and dairy lovers alike to choose a more sustainable alternative to dairy. Producing a litre of Lilk requires nearly 5 times fewer emissions than Cow’s milk, with each KG of Lilk producing just 0.32KG CO2e.
It’s the first plant milk brand in the UK and Europe to use packaging company SIG’s innovative 1-litre Combidome bottle which is fully recyclable and allows drinkers to pour every last drop, meaning no waste. All of Lilk’s suppliers are Sedex-approved, ensuring the highest quality and ethical supply chains and in addition, the brand is currently undergoing the process of becoming B-Corp certified.
Following its reveal last summer, Lilk has accumulated an impressive run of accolades on its mission to help dairy lovers become plant-based converts and give vegans a better-tasting drink. The brand has won a prized Grocer New Product Award, a Free-From Food Award and was recently named Best Overall Plant Milk 2022 by The Independent in their latest rankings, who agreed the product was ‘very, very milky’ praising its versatility and great taste.
Customer feedback so far for the products has also been overwhelmingly positive, with people who confess to normally not liking to drink plant-based milk on its own, finding themselves adopting new habits such as drinking Lilk straight out of the fridge.
Lilk is available to buy on Ocado, in Waitrose, in Holland and Barrett and on the brand’s website www.lilk.co from £1.99 RRP.
Featured Photo by Anisur Rahman on Unsplash
