Food and drink brand Alpro has launched a multi-million-pound investment in the UK, by switching to 100% British oats for its British Oat Drink range.

Working with oat mill Navara, located in Kettering, the plant-based milk brand has said it will source oats locally, primarily from farmers within 80 miles of the mill.

The investment will see changes at the site, where 58 million litres of the British Oat Drink are set to be produced annually, representing a quarter of the site’s annual production of plant-based drinks.

The shift in the Danone-owned brand’s oat sourcing and production process will significantly cut food miles while supporting local farmers.

“Health is at the heart of everything we do, and we work to offer healthier nutrition to consumers in the most sustainable way possible,” said Danone UK & Ireland president James Mayer.

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“As a pioneer and global leader in plant-based nutrition, plant-based drinks are a key part of our strategy to boost growth by focusing on developing products that deliver on both health and taste.

“This significant UK investment in manufacturing from home grown oats is an exciting step forward and a great demonstration of how we’re innovating to deliver healthy and tasty food & drink sustainably.”

Danone UK & Ireland head of category – plant-based Tom Kerr said: “From my 15 years of working within the plant-based category, I have seen growth from 1 in 10 UK households buying plant-based to more than half buying it in the last five years.

“Amid the rising popularity of ‘flexitarianism’, Alpro has been moving the category forward in terms of taste, health benefits and sustainability, so that more people can enjoy bringing a variety of plant-based products into their diet. Now, we’ve been able to bring British grown oats in a British-made oat drink to shoppers’ baskets in the UK – it’s something to be really proud of.”

The announcement builds upon Alpro’s previous £41m cash-injection into its facility in Kettering, which saw the installation of new equipment to lower its energy consumption and reduce CO2 and water usage.