Free Flow Manufacturing, a leading New Zealand beverage manufacturer, announced it would open New Zealand’s first dedicated state-of-the-art plant-based milk manufacturing facility this year. The innovation responds to consumers' increased demand and appetite for alternative milk.
The new facility represents a significant capital expenditure investment for the company and will be capable of producing 50 million litres of the highest quality plant-based milk annually. This will include a partnership to produce plant milk for foundation client New Zealand’s original oat milk brand, Otis, enabling the Otago company to return the manufacturing of its popular oat milk from Sweden to New Zealand.
Free Flow Manufacturing co-founder Scott Day stated that the demand for plant-based milk alternatives has skyrocketed in recent years, outpacing traditional dairy milk, with no sign of slowing.
“Grocery spending on plant-based milk in New Zealand increased by 44 percent from 2019 to the end of 2022, with sales jumping from $61 million to $88 million,” said Day.
“Despite this, New Zealand has had to rely on mainly imported products or those manufactured overseas to meet this demand. Launching our new plant-based milk facility in East Auckland is an important milestone for the sector, enabling it to reduce its carbon footprint, improve innovation and produce premium products locally for health-conscious consumers worldwide.”
When the facility opens later this year, Otis oat milk will be the first product to roll off the production line. This marks the culmination of a four-year search by its founders for a local manufacturing partner capable of producing its recipe to world-class standards.
Otis co-founders Tim Ryan and Chris Wilkie revealed they have been on a mission to return to making their oat milk in New Zealand since Otis launched in Lincoln, Canterbury, as the first New Zealand oat milk brand in 2018.
“As we scaled up our production, we weren’t prepared to compromise on quality. Because of this, we’ve had to ship our New Zealand oats to Sweden for manufacture due to the lack of a local partner with the technology required to produce premium oat milk to the gold standard we demand,” said Ryan and Wilke.
The pair shared the journey had been long and hard, involving seven feasibility studies over different sites across New Zealand. This was costly in both money and years for the small start-up company. However, they were excited to have found a solution with Free Flow and believe that the New Zealand market for producing dairy and plant alternatives will become a force to be reckoned with.
The new Free Flow Manufacturing plant will be one of the world’s most technically advanced plant-based milk manufacturing facilities, achieved with the involvement of the world’s leading brain on oat milk, Sweden’s Angie Triantafyllou. Triantafyllou, ex-Oatly founder and now Chairman of the board at Swedish plant-based technology company Cerealiq, has been working with Otis since its inception and has been heavily involved in developing the new Free Flow facility.
“We know New Zealand produces some of the highest quality oats in the world, and when this facility opens, they’ll be producing arguably the highest quality oat milk in the world, too,” Triantafyllou said.
“This new facility will produce oat milk to world-class standard levels of beta-glucan, the nutritional gold ingredient found in premium oat milk, helping the body maintain healthy cholesterol levels.”
Triantafyllou stated that Otis was the first oat milk maker in New Zealand to use Cerealiq’s patented enzyme technology. She was excited that this technology would now be available in New Zealand, enabling the production of the highest quality, nutritious and delicious oat milk to be made here in New Zealand.
The new manufacturing facility will be built in line with Free Flow Manufacturing’s journey to earning B Corporation status, which places sustainability at the forefront. Free Flow Manufacturing’s existing footprint will expand with an additional 2,500 square metres of production and another 4,000 square metres of warehousing.
The machinery can produce both plant-based milk and brew and process beer. Developed in conjunction with leading German machine manufacturer Krones and brewing technology masters Steinecker, this revolution in manufacturing opens up yet another revenue stream for Free Flow and an opportunity for companies to reduce reliance on imported goods in favour of locally made products.
“This project has been a long time in the making, and we’ve been fortunate to have worked with the best in the business to make it happen,” said Day.
“From New Zealand’s original oat milk innovators, Otis, to the world-class technological innovations offered by Cerealiq, Krones and Steinecker, we can’t wait to hit go. So plant-based milk and beer brands, bring us your recipes and ideas and let us get to it.”
