This week, Milkadamia, known for its range of macadamia-based milks, announced its first oat milk. However, this isn’t just any oat milk; the company is introducing Flat Pack oat milk, which are printed sheets of plant-based milk that are designed to be rehydrated in water overnight or blended for an instant beverage.
According to the company, these sheets are created by printing oat milk paste onto flat sheets using a proprietary 2D printing process. Each package contains eight of these lightweight sheets, reducing both packaging and weight.
But why print milk instead of shipping it as a ready-to-drink liquid? Although plant-based milk is more environmentally friendly than dairy, ready-to-drink beverages still have a significant carbon footprint and require substantial packaging to reach consumers. Research from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health highlights that the climate impact of bottled water, for example, can be up to 3,500 times higher than that of tap water. Milkadamia claims that their printed milk sheets will reduce packaging by 94% and product weight by 85%.
Milkadamia isn’t the first to venture into printed beverages, or even printed milk. Veganz, for instance, patented a 2D-printed milk product last year and began distributing it soon after. Given the similarities between Veganz’s product and Milkadamia’s oat milk, it raises the question of whether Milkadamia is licensing this technology from Veganz. (Editor update: Milkadamia confirmed via email that they are using the same technology as Veganz and are the first to introduce flat-pack milk in the US).
Another company in the printed beverage space is SmartCups, which prints energy drink concentrates directly into cups, allowing consumers to create their drinks by simply adding water. This approach to printed beverages seems to be gaining more traction than in-home beverage printing—a concept that Cana, a company that attempted to market it, struggled with before going out of business last year.
Milkadamia’s new Flat Pack printed oat milk is set to be available online and in stores starting January 2025.