Plant Milk Polling Headlines
Pre-campaign 2024
Sample size: 2001 nationally representative responses
Dates: 23/02/2024 - 26/02/2024
Carried out by Censuswide
• One in 10 (9.75%) people drink plant milk every day (compared with 65% who drink dairy every day).
• Plant milk consumption is slightly higher for men than women. Highest in the 25-34 age range.
• More than half of Brits (56%) say they’d be willing to consider drinking less dairy.
o 59.51% in the South West
• Of those who don’t drink plant milk, nearly two thirds (64.56%) have never even tried it.
• One in 10 (10.21%) first tried plant milk at a friend’s house, nearly four in 10 (38.47%) first tried at home, and almost a quarter (22%) first tried in a coffee shop, café or restaurant.
• More men influenced by their partner – more than a third of men (34.08%) were with their partner when they tried plant milk for the first time, compared with 19.39% of women.
• More than a third (36.84%) of people say the environment is a reason for considering reducing their dairy intake.
o But, of those who have tried plant milk, 15.14% say they were motivated by the environment to try plant milk for the first time.
• People think of plant milks as healthy (32.78%), tasty (23.06%) and good for the environment (22.36%), but more than one in five (22.99%) think of it as expensive.
• Only one in 10 (11.53%) of people who have tried plant milk would describe it as unpleasant.
• Almond is the gateway plant milk for first timers with one third (30.14%) saying it was the first plant milk they tried, with oat a close second at 28.54%.
• Oat is the most popular plant milk amongst Brits (33.61% tried it and enjoyed it and 29.68% consume it on a regular basis), with almond a close second with 32.29% trying and enjoying it, and 28.09 consuming regularly now.
o 16-24 year olds are almost twice as likely to regularly drink hazelnut milk (18.81% versus the national average of 10.16%).
• Soy is the least popular (20.83% tried and didn’t like it) – but 15.9% drink it on a regular basis.
• Intrigue (28.4%) and enjoying trying new flavours (24.51%) are the main reason Brits have tried plant milk.
o Followed by trying to be healthier (23.96%), reducing dairy intake for animal welfare reasons (15.76%) and reducing dairy intake for environmental reasons (15.14%).
• In coffee was the most common choice when trying plant milk for the first time (33.68% first tried it in coffee).
• In coffee is the most common way to consume plant milk (43.37%)
o Versus just 28.51% for tea.
• Over half (53.96%) had trepidations before trying plant milk, but were pleasantly surprised .
• One in five (19.43%) people who haven’t tried plant milk say if it were cheaper they would.
o 46.35% say nothing would entice them to try plant milk.
o One in 20 (5.35%) say they’d try it if the environmental benefits were clearer and a similar number (5.17%) said they would if they thought their action would make a bigger impact on the environment.
• Twice as many men state plant milk not frothing as well as dairy as a reason for not trying or drinking plant milk more often (8.37% versus just 4.02% for women).
• A third of Brits say they make little or no effort to ensure their diet is sustainable (33.23%).