Delicious oat milk grown and produced here in Hampshire
Our first delivery of Toats Mylk has just arrived and it is ready and waiting on the shelf. I’m delighted to have a local company providing this delicious and fresh oat milk for us. I hope that you enjoy finding out more about their ethos and their fantastic, creamy milk.
About Toats Mylk
TOATS MYLK is a family business based here in Hampshire. They grow the oats and produce the drink at Rushmere Farm, which is on the west side of the South Downs National Park. The values behind Toats Mylk are perfectly in line with our aims here at Earthian, which is why I was really keen to work with them and to provide their locally produced drink to our community. Their guiding principle is to “reduce human impact on the earth” which rings so true for what we are all trying to achieve together.
At the moment, Rushmere Farm maintains ecological biodiversity ensuring that the farming practices are in tune with the natural world. However, they are also in the process of converting the farm, where they grow over 100 tonnes of oats annually, to be fully organic in 2 years time. The way that they are helping to reduce their impact on our planet is three-fold:
They provide a delicious plant-based alternative to cow's milk; reducing the impact of intensive dairy farming on the environment.
They reduce the waste and energy spent on TetraPaks by providing a refill option in a reusable and recyclable bottle.
They agree fair prices with their farmers, giving them the flexibility to pursue ecologically sustainable farming practices.
I asked George, farmer and founder of Toats Mylk about the sustainable farming practices that they have at Rushmere Farm and he let me know that:
"we are fortunate that there is still some time in which to not only reduce our impact on the planet but to improve how we coexist with nature. Humans need to eat, so farming must try to remain productive, but we can do this at the same time as building biodiversity, soil health, and carbon uptake. We do this by growing, alongside and amidst our crops, a diverse variety of plants with tasty pollen, nectar, and seeds, as well as ranging root depths, to nourish birds, insects, and all of nature's richness. I think you can taste this, in the freshly milled oats and in TOATS MYLK, and by buying our drink you are supporting us to continually improve and to stay motivated, so thank you."
Update (February 2022) - The farm is now in the final stages of converting to certified organic produce. The Oat Mylk we sell at the shop is now being made with organic oats!
The supply packaging
If you follow the shop you may already know that I’m keen on sharing details from behind the scenes. It’s important to me to be transparent about packaging and waste generated by us running a business, as it is often unavoidable. However, I believe that it is possible to mitigate the impact we have at all levels and proudly share what we do here at Earthian to keep our shop zero waste too.
Update (November 2021) - Originally, this post talked about how much less carbon and water a bag in a box refill system used compared to Tetrapaks. However, I have removed this section as we are now on a fully circular supply chain from farm to shop! This is something I'm really proud of as I talked with George about the possibility of achieving this and he delivered a refillable system that works brilliantly.
Instead of a bag in a box, Toats Mylk deliver the oat drink to the shop in large tubs which we use to refill our new dispenser which has a reusable canister inside. The large tubs go back to the farm where they are sanitised and refilled with the next batch of mylk.
How it works
This particular refill works slightly differently to the other liquids and foods here at the shop. Your first purchase will be an empty bottle that you fill with milk from the chilled dispenser. For future purchases, you keep the same Toats Mylk bottle and bring it back to refill again and again. As the milk is priced by the refill rather than by weight, you will need to bring the same bottle back rather than refill your own bottles from home.
Update (February 2022) - You can now bring your own bottles from home as we have it priced by weight as well as by standard refill.
As the milk is fresh it requires refrigeration and should be consumed within 3 to 5 days of refill. The ingredients are simple and natural, using just oats, water, sunflower oil, sea salt and cornish sea weed. Toats Mylk is delicious as it is but can also be put in your tea and frothed for coffee.
If you have any questions at all about this oat milk or the lovely company behind it, please do get in touch!
Take care
Katie