Plant-Based Beverages

Plant-based beverages are the fastest-moving part of the beverage category and the one most closely tied to what Canada grows: oats and peas come from the domestic crop, so the provenance story is real.

The technical variables are protein content, stabiliser system, mouthfeel, and separation behaviour over shelf life in a warm climate: the last of these being where formulations validated in temperate conditions most often fail.

As with juice, the freight arithmetic favours concentrate or a base shipped to a destination bottler over finished ready-to-drink, unless the positioning is genuinely premium.

Claims are the compliance item: protein content claims, fortification and comparisons to dairy are all regulated and differ by destination.