Glasgow-based McQueens Dairies unveils new oat milk offering

McQueens Dairies has announced a new supply agreement that will see it delivering oat milk in glass bottles to customers’ doorsteps for the first time.

McQueens Dairies said it will be delivering Oato’s oat milk from all 12 of its depots. Picture: contributed.

The Glasgow-based firm has joined forces with specialist producer Oato, and the latter’s oat milk will now be delivered from all 12 McQueens Dairies depots in Scotland and the north of England.

McQueens Dairies has offered oat milk supplied in Tetrapak packaging since mid 2020 but requests from customers for products supplied in glass bottles have grown rapidly over that last two years.

The Scottish business said oat milk’s fans include Oprah Winfrey, movie star Natalie Portman and rap star Jay-Z, and it cited data from international research company Kantar from July showing that sales of oat milk had almost doubled to £94.3 million from £47.8m in the UK over the previous year.

Calum McQueen, operations director at McQueens Dairies, said: “We’ve seen demand for milk supplied in reusable glass bottles, and for oat milk, increasing so we’re pleased to be working with Oato to supply customers with bottled oat milk.”

Carl Hopwood, founder of Oato, said: "We’re delighted to supply Oato through McQueens Dairies, we’re aligned with their mission to delight customers every day whilst reducing plastic waste. We’re excited to hear feedback from more households waking up in Scotland and Northern England to a UK-made dairy alternative in reusable glass – delivered to their doorsteps before 7am. The UK grows an abundance of oats and we’re proud Oato is a sustainable dairy alternative made with 100 per cent British oats.”

McQueens Dairies is a family business specialising in doorstep milk deliveries and was founded in 1995 by company chairman Mick McQueen and his wife Meg. Its distribution depots in Scotland comprise Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Kilbride, Kirkcaldy, Galashiels.

It now also delivers orange and apple juices and fresh eggs and has 700 staff including the couple’s five children who hold senior positions within the business. Most recently, the company opened two depots in Carlisle and Sheffield as demand for doorstep milk deliveries increased, in addition to sites in Mansfield, Bradford, Warrington, Preston, and Stockton on Tees south of the Border.

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