Recently, a Chinese characteristic plant-based milk—rice milk emerges in China’s market. It is manufactured from rice, one of the most common staple foods in China, and without lactose, providing a new dairy alternative for consumers with lactose intolerance. Prominent rice varieties are usually selected as the raw material, which contain fascinating aromas and have a good reputation among consumers.

The newly developed rice milk is frequently utilised into coffee and tea products, becoming a novel choice among Chinese consumers. For instance, Cotti Coffee, a Chinese chain coffee brand, continuously rolled out six rice milk lattes with original, coconut, citrus, osmanthus, peach gum and orange flavours from September this year. The sales volume of the rice milk series exceeded 10 million cups by the end of October, with related views on social media reaching 150 million. Besides, KFC’s freshly-made tea brand, Grandpa Comfy Tea introduced a rice milk tea product, combining rice milk with black tea and Chinese medicine ingredient lotus seeds. After launched, this rice milk tea became the brand’s best-selling product, with an average daily sales of over 1,000 cups.

Cotti Coffee’s Poster Announcing the Sales of 10 Million Cups of Its Rice milk Series

What factors contributed to consumers’ preference for rice milk? Apart from its plant-based identity, the ingredient, flavour and function of rice milk also promote its popularity.

Highly Accepted Ingredient

Rice holds a special place in the Chinese diet as an essential staple food, favoured by the majority of the population. Consequently, rice milk, derived from this familiar grain, resonates with consumers, with the potential to appeal to a broad spectrum of individuals. Moreover, due to people’s familiarity of rice, the addition of rice milk to various food categories is met with high acceptance from consumers. In fact, Chinese people have always had a tradition of manufacturing rice into wine, which are also highly accepted by consumers.

Versatile Flavour

Boasting a mild and delicately sweet taste with a fresh grain aroma, rice milk pairs well with a wide range of products such as tea, yogurt, coffee and alcohol. Its incorporation into diverse drinks to create distinctive flavoured products, further enhances its popularity among consumers. For example, M Stand, a Chinese boutique coffee brand, launched a Thai rice flavoured latte, infusing rice milk and coconut milk into nut-flavoured espresso. The sweet taste of these two milk types well balanced coffee’s bitterness, providing consumers with a smoother texture. The rice milk’s grain aroma also enriches the coffee’s overall flavour profile. Coco, a Chinese milk tea brand, rolled out a rice milk tea product in which rice milk is blended with oolong tea, offering consumers a delightful double fragrance experience. The product also contains salty cream topping, providing consumers with a multi-layered taste sensation.

Health-preservation function

Enriched with nutrients such as vitamins B1, B2, and minerals like phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, rice milk can not only efficiently provide people with nutrition and energy, but also have the functions of nourishing spleen and stomach. Besides, containing a little amount of fat and protein, it is a light food with low calories. Recognising these health benefits, many brands leverage rice milk's functional attributes to attract consumers. For instance, YH.TANG, a Chinese milk tea brand, advertised its rice milk products with the slogan, “Great rice produces nice rice milk, nourishing the stomach of eastern people”. Oatly, a Swedish plant-based milk brand, also highlighted the health-preservation function of its prepackaged rice milk product, expecting the Chinese characteristic plant-based milk to warm and satisfy the stomach of Chinese people.

ChemLinked Insights

Currently, the application of rice milk is more seen in coffee and tea products. In the future, enterprises can explore its integration get deeper in more food categories, such as dessert, ice-cream,etc. Notably, there are already rice-based dessert and ice cream products available in the Chinese market. For example, Yuanfudaotian has introduced a rice dessert incorporating milk and coconut milk, which can be enjoyed either chilled or heated. Laoye has four rice ice cream products added with rice wine, peanut, sesame and mango, respectively. By learning from these successful innovations of rice, brands are expected to create a wider range of innovative products integrating rice milk.

Additionally, different rice varieties and processing techniques yield distinct characteristics in rice milk. For example, water-grinding techniques excel at preserving the mellow aroma of rice, while enzymolysis technology is beneficial for the overall flavour and stability of product. Brands can employ the appropriate ingredients and methods to manufacture their rice milk products, and take these as selling points to attract consumers.

**Disclaimer: The cover image and all images used in the article are from the Internet.