Dairy-Free Products Win Big in the TASTY Awards, with 27 Products Meeting Consumer Taste Expectations Compared to Conventional Dairy

NECTAR, a non-profit research initiative dedicated to accelerating the protein transition with taste, is unveiling the Taste of the Industry 2026 report, the most comprehensive public sensory analysis of dairy-free products to date. By focusing on the primary purchase driver for all foods, taste - the primary driver of consumer adoption - this research aims to accelerate the transition of the $1.2 trillion global dairy industry towards more sustainable alternatives. This is the latest report from NECTAR, which has now amassed the largest publicly available dataset on the sensory performance of alternative proteins, with more than 30,000 consumer sensory evaluations.

The dairy industry is among agriculture’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for roughly 4% of all anthropogenic emissions. Dairy production is remarkably carbon-intensive, with a kilogram of cheese generating up to 21 kg of CO2 equivalents¹. 
At the same time, dairy shows great potential for disruption as alternatives improve and grow their market share, with the global dairy-free market forecasted to reach $66.9 billion by 2030.

NECTAR employs rigorous sensory methodologies to deliver evidence-based insights the food industry can trust. NECTAR prioritizes transparency, ensuring findings reflect authentic consumer experiences and provide an actionable roadmap for product improvement.


Through blind taste tests with 2,183 omnivores, NECTAR objectively evaluated 98 dairy-free products against conventional counterparts across 10 categories. Each product was blind-tasted by at least 100 consumers alongside its dairy counterpart. NECTAR tested products from both established national brands and newer alternative dairy companies. Products were tested in recipe builds; for example, creamer was tested in coffee, while cream cheese was tested on a bagel.

Key Findings:

• Consumers seek out barista milk: Dairy-free barista milk performed the best relative to its dairy benchmark, with Califia Farms Oat Barista Blend attaining taste parity with Horizon Whole Milk. NECTAR findings indicate that dairy-free barista milk, creamer, and milk can compete with dairy on taste
   
• R&D is needed to close the taste gap: Ice cream, cream cheese, and mozzarella were furthest behind their dairy benchmarks, and flavor is a key area of focus for dairy-free product improvements
   
• Texture is the biggest opportunity area for dairy-free cheese: Mozzarella and cheddar have the highest gaps in purchase intent (25% versus 67% for mozzarella; 40% versus 71% for cheddar), indicating a need to improve overall sensory experience, including improvements on stretch and melt, as well as decreased stickiness and gumminess to drive consumer adoption
   
• Health-centric marketing can drive the next wave of adoption: 48% of consumers ‘strongly agree’ that health factors into their purchase decisions; they were also significantly more likely to purchase dairy-free products than the general population
   
• Emotional connection drives dairy consumption: Participants said they experience joy, comfort, satiation, and indulgence when consuming dairy products; these emotions were associated with a 0.6-0.9pt increase in purchase intent
   
• Better taste correlates with more sales: Milk, the best-tasting category, has 15x higher market share than cheese, the worst-tasting category, suggesting R&D can have high ROI for brands

“The path to mainstream adoption for dairy alternatives runs through taste,” said Caroline Cotto, Director of NECTAR. “We’ve seen remarkable progress from category leaders, and we’re excited to honor these standout products at this year’s TASTY Awards. But there’s still significant work ahead for the dairy-free industry. Our goal is to provide the objective sensory data that drives R&D innovation and ultimately expands consumer adoption of sustainable alternatives to dairy.”

To celebrate achievements in taste innovation, NECTAR is recognizing the top-performing brands from this study with a TASTY Award. The awards honor brands that have achieved taste excellence, where at least 50% of consumers rated the alternative product as good as or better than its dairy counterpart in overall liking.

2026 TASTY Award Winners:

• Barista Milk: Califia Farms, DREAM™, Milkadamia, Minor Figures, Planet Oat, Ripple
• Butter (salted): Country Crock, Melt Organic, Violife
• Cheddar: Field Roast, Follow Your Heart, Miyoko’s Creamery, Plant Ahead
• Cream Cheese: Violife
• Creamer: Coffee Mate, Oatly, Planet Oat, Silk, SOWN, Violife
• Ice Cream: So Delicious
• Milk: Blue Diamond, Maizly, Silk
• Sour Cream: Violife
• Yogurt: Cocojune

These winners will be celebrated at the second annual TASTY Awards ceremony tonight, Wednesday, March 18th, from 6-9pm at The Hibernia in San Francisco, CA. The event will bring together industry leaders, innovators, journalists, chefs, funders and consumers to celebrate the sensory innovations and advancements across the dairy-free industry.

Read the full Taste of the Industry 2026 report here. To explore the full dataset and interactive dashboard, click here. Details on study methodology can be found here. NECTAR offers a detailed and customizable look at how sustainable proteins compare to their animal-based counterparts, providing valuable insights for both consumers and industry stakeholders.

¹Poore, J.; Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987–992. doi:10.1126/science.aaq0216

About NECTAR
NECTAR is a nonprofit initiative of Food System Innovations that accelerates the protein transition through large-scale sensory research. We provide actionable taste data and foster industry collaboration to help alternative protein brands enhance consumer satisfaction and drive market adoption. Learn more at www.nectar.org.

About Food System Innovations
Food System Innovations (FSI) is a philanthropic impact platform advancing science, markets, and society to improve food systems. FSI is a strategic hub that accelerates change by combining multiple tools and approaches, acting as both a funder and operator, directly implementing programs while empowering others through grants, investments, and capacity building. Learn more at www.fsi.org.

Contact Information

Rachel Stoczko

PR for NECTAR

NECTAR

Contact via E-mail