Swiss chocolatier Lindt recently launched a new vegan chocolate bar made with oat milk. The bars are available in three varieties (Original, Hazelnut, and Salted Caramel) and in the United Kingdom in two varieties (Smooth and Hazelnut). To create the new vegan products, Lindt replaced dairy milk with gluten-free oat milk powder and almond paste.
This is not the first incursion from the chocolatier launching vegan items. Last year with a three-flavor line under its HELLO collection the bars, Were also made with oat milk, and included Cookie, Salted Caramel, and Hazelnut flavors.
Lindt is one of the major chocolate companies that are developing vegan milk chocolate. Though many manufacturers offer vegan dark chocolate bars that exclude dairy milk as an ingredient, all major brands are now making use of plant-based solutions such as oats, hazelnuts, and rice to create vegan milk chocolate.
In recent years, nearly every chocolate giant launched vegan milk chocolate options. In 2019, Mars introduced its first vegan milk chocolate Galaxy line. In 2021 Nestlé debuted a vegan version of its iconic KitKat bar made with rice milk and British multinational confectionery company Cadbury also launched its first line of vegan chocolate bars in the UK this year.
American manufacturer Hershey’s has been testing a vegan milk chocolate bar made with oat milk instead of dairy. The Oat Made bars come in Classic Dark and Extra Creamy Almond & Sea Salt flavors and are available at a few selected retailers, as part of a real-time marketing test Hershey’s is conducting until June 2022.
