Tetra Pak has the know-how and equipment portfolio to help you succeed and take advantage of the opportunities in the oat-based category.

Meeting the demand for oat beverages

The plant-based beverage volume in Asia-Pacific reached ~15 billion litres volume in 2019. Oat drinks are the latest dairy-free contender rising in popularity among homes and cafes across the globe.


Tetra Pak’s research shows great potential in this category. A range of different consumer trends are currently converging to make oat beverages an extremely popular choice — sustainability, health, vegetarianism, lactose concerns and animal welfare all play a role. Oat-based products can even command prices up to five times that of ordinary milk.


Thanks to a wealth of expertise in low-acid, aseptic technology, and many years of soya production, we have the knowhow to help you succeed in the oat-based beverage category.


Our equipment portfolio covers extraction, mixing, ultra-high-temperature (UHT) treatment, aseptic storage and filling. We can configure complete lines from product formulation to heat treatment and packaging — all based on your product ambitions and formulations.

Meeting the demand for oat beverages

The surprising versatility of Oat

Oat-based beverages are extremely versatile in how they may be formulated, allowing you to target different consumers with a variety of different product profiles, such as ones that have/are:


  • Clean-label varieties – with just water, oats, oil and salt
  • Additional stabilizers
  • Enriched with calcium and vitamins
  • Blended with milk
  • Blended with fruit juice
  • Added with flavours, such as chocolate

An oat extract (10-15% oat) can also be formulated into drinks, yoghurt, cooking cream, and even cheese – more or less all the products that can be formulated from milk.

The surprising versatility of Oat

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Raw Oat Material Ingredients

Raw material selection defines process set up

Raw material selection defines process set up

As a starting point for beverage producers entering this segment, we have identified the main production challenges, as well as how you can best develop your processing lines for successful products.


The first major decision in designing an oat beverage is to select the right oat ingredient, process steps and product formulation to achieve the desired taste, mouthfeel and stability.

Oat milk in glass

Key factors contributing to the oat beverage quality

Oat Quality

This includes the type of oat, how it is grown and seasonal variations.


Type of enzymes

The majority of oat beverages deploy enzymes during the processing. The addition of enzymes helps break down the starch and fibres to make the product smooth, with the right sweetness. Depending on the processing steps implemented, the manufacturer can adjust the product characteristics such as colour, sweetness, sedimentation and mouthfeel.


Downstream processing

Following the hydrolysation process, the product is taken through a decanter, where insoluble particles (i.e. fibres) are separated out. Depending on how much fibre is extracted, the smoothness and process yield will be affected. Further downstream processing – enzyme deactivation, mixing blending, UHT and homogenisation further impacts the product sensory attributes significantly.


Processing lines

Oat processing lines have a basic choice of raw materials, with vastly different consequences for processing steps and costs.


In addition, there are different varieties of oats with varying levels of proteins, fat, fibres and beta glucan with varying particle sizes. The choice of a given raw material will determine the characteristics of the oat base. Regardless of which type of raw material you start with, it is possible to optimise the process and product formulation, and produce a good product.

Oat Groats

Oat Groats

Oat groats, which are a commodity, are oat kernels that have been steamed and dehulled. The steaming and dehulling process are essential to extend the grain shelf life and improve the quality of the final product. Use of oat groats will require the addition of a grinding set up to convert the groats into a wet slurry, which will then be put through an enzyme treatment and will require further downstream processing. This process provides maximum possibility for product customisation, thus allowing manufacturers to differentiate their product from others available in the market. A modified Tetra Pak Extraction System – Soya Extraction, can be used to prepare oat beverages from oat groats.
Oat Flour

Oat Flour

In the oat industry, the other commonly traded commodity is oat flour. While 10-25% more expensive than oat groats, it is another excellent starting point in the oat beverage process. The key advantage compared to oat groats is that no grinding step is required – the process can start with high shear mixing of oat flour and water followed by enzyme treatment and downstream processing. The ability for product differentiation is also quite high when oat flour is utilised. Tetra Pak has experience delivering several oat beverage processing lines, with oat flour as the starting material.
Oat Paste

Oat Paste / Oat Powder

Today, some suppliers also supply pre-treated oat paste that could be used for reconstitution into oat beverages. While it simplifies the process significantly, this process limits the ability of the manufacturer to customise the product profile significantly, especially with plain oat beverages. Additionally, this choice of raw material is much more expensive and can be cost prohibitive where large volumes of products are to be produced.

Challenges & Solutions

Oat-based beverage production is still a new area with no off-the-shelf solutions. Among other factors affecting processing complexity, oat beverages are low-acid products, so they require a heat treatment similar to milk, but to have long running times, the process configuration has to be adapted for oats due to the difference in composition compared to milk. Additionally, as oats are not naturally stable, careful consideration must be given to how the product will be formulated, processed, packaged, and consumed.

Best-In-Class Line Solutions

Extensive Experience


Tetra Pak has extensive experience in designing downstream processing – starting from mixing and blending, to UHT systems, aseptic storage and aseptic fillers. We have delivered 100+ solutions for downstream processing of plant-based beverages – this gives us the expertise to design a solution ideally suited to your specific requirements, while ensuring the best-in-class product quality and a lowest total cost of ownership.

Extensive Experience
Processing solution for oat grain line

Processing solution for oat grain line


For production of oat beverages from grains or flakes, this line includes wet-grinding and highly-controlled enzyme treatment and de-activation process capabilities to give the desired product flavour. Fibre separation, homogenisation and powerful high shear mixing also optimise beverage properties, while heat treatment capabilities ensure food safety.

Processing solution for oat flour line

Processing solution for oat flour line


For production of oat beverages from flour, this line begins with powerful high shear mixing. Next comes a highly-controlled enzyme treatment and de-activation process to give the desired end product flavour. Fibre separation, homogenisation and powerful high shear mixing also optimise beverage properties, while heat treatment capabilities ensure food safety.

Oat Extraction

Oat Extraction

Tetra Pak® Processing Solution for Oat Extraction:


Whether the starting point is oat groats or oat flour, Tetra Pak has the knowhow, portfolio and experience to deliver suitable solutions for the product’s needs.


When starting with oat groats, the process commences with a step of wet grinding of groats with water. A two-stage grinding – coarse, followed by fine grinding is typically recommended by Tetra Pak. The grinding set up can be flexible to handle oat, as well as other grains / legumes, such as soya, thus providing the flexibility to process a range of different products.


If starting with oat flour, the process begins with dispersion of oat flour with water in a high shear mixer. In both cases, the resultant product is an oat slurry with 14-17% total solids.


The next step in the process is enzyme hydrolysis. This is done at a specific temperature for a defined period of time. Correct equipment sizing and production scheduling is a must – this requires an in-depth understanding to achieve the right product. This critical process is followed by enzyme deactivation to ensure product quality is consistent from batch to batch.


The last step in the extraction process is the separation of insoluble components from the oat slurry, which makes the beverage smooth but also reduces the chances of sedimentation in the product during storage.


Tetra Pak can be your ideal partner for oat extraction.

Mixing

Mixing

A high shear mixer is needed at two stages of oat processing:


1. When starting with oat flour, a good mixer (e.g. Tetra Pak High Shear Mixer) is needed to properly disperse oat flour into water, which can prove difficult if an inappropriate mixer is utilised.


2. Following separation of the oat base from the fibre in a decanter, the oat base is formulated with various ingredients. Good mixing is essential for the final product quality; a high shear mixer and circulation over a blending tank is recommended.




Tetra Pak® High Shear Mixer


Fast and reliable ingredients mixing

A complete mixing solution, the efficient mixing system reduces mixing time and produces homogeneous and lump-free products of superior quality, easily adaptable to a wide variety of product recipes and enable quick and easy product changes.

Capacity: 5,000 – 40,000 l/hr

Applications: Perfect for all kinds of plant-based beverages, involving mixing of ingredients such as stabilizers, vegetable oils, emulsifiers etc.
Homogenisation

Homogenisation

To obtain a smooth product with the desired mouthfeel, the oat beverage must be homogenised – it is also the most common method to avoid ‘sandiness’ in the product.


Homogenisation breaks fat globules into smaller ones in order to delay creaming during the product’s shelf life. In the case of oat milk, vegetable oil is generally added to the product to give it desired mouthfeel. To disperse and stabilise this fat, typically, a homogenisation pressure similar to milk is applied.


Homogenisation pressure is also affected by use of stabilisers and the consumer’s acceptance of separation (both creaming and sedimentation).


There are often many abrasive particles (mainly fibres) in the oat slurry – these particles will cause wear on the homogeniser device and therefore may increase maintenance costs.


Tetra Pak Homogenizers feature a distinct design for plant-based beverages and turnable parts (longer part life) that are most suited for such application.




Tetra Pak® Homogenizers


Pioneering design for lower pressure and energy savings with smart automation

Tetra Pak® Homogenizers reduce particle size and improve product quality. Available in non-aseptic and aseptic versions with a wide range of capacities and pressures, and for products with different viscosities.

Capacity: 55 l/h to 63,600 l/h

Cost Effective Maintenance: Lowest operational, utility service and spare parts costs

Operational Efficiency: Highest homogenizer uptime

Applications: Efficient homogenization of both low and high acid products; wide range of applications.
UHT Treatment

UHT Treatment

UHT treatment is the most critical process when it comes to long-life beverages. All plant-based beverages are typically low-acid beverages – similar to dairy beverages – which is why a similar UHT treatment is typically applied.


Tetra Pak has extensive experience in designing UHT products for dairy and non-dairy plant-based beverage applications, and we understand the unique requirements of UHT processing and the different flavours that can be created – and how to create these flavours.


Our wide portfolio of different heat exchangers and experience of handling different applications enables us to provide best-in-class thermal treatment solutions for your product requirements – be it shelf stable, ambient products (UHT) or chilled products with an extended shelf life.




Tetra Pak® UHT Solutions


Application: Tetra Pak® UHT Solutions are processing unit for highly efficient, continuous ultra-high temperature treatment of plant based beverages. The UHT solutions are available in number of different process configurations – e.g. Indirect (Plate or Tubular Heat exchanger) or Direct UHT.


Whether it is a direct or indirect UHT unit, the common elements are: an aseptic design, a heat exchanger to heat the product to desired temperature and holding for a specific period of time. The end result is a product that can be stored at ambient temperatures. Tetra Pak® UHT solutions are suitable for plant based beverages such as soy, oat, nuts and other dairy alternative milk, plant based cream, plant based yoghurt drinks and formulated plant based beverage products. Combinations with other non-dairy applications such as juice, tea and coffee are also possible.


Tetra Pak® UHT Solutions are available as a stand-alone unit or as part of a complete line solution.


Capacity: 1 000 - 40 000 litres/hour


Key Highlights:

  • Consistent product quality
  • Minimized product losses thanks to low-loss balance tank function
  • Improved uptime as a result of optimized cleaning
  • Maximized operational efficiency due to minimized energy consumption
  • Guaranteed performance