Dryk is a dairy alternative brand seeing success in its native Denmark where it produces a large range of plant milks with ingredients including hemp, quinoa, pea, and of course the ubiquitous oat. The company develops its products in close cooperation with leading food manufacturers who take pride in creating the best quality.
Dryk, launched only in January of this year, says that its range of drinks stand apart because they offer a clean, creamy taste that is not dominated by sweetness: “The vast majority of other plant drinks consist of boiled plant syrup, which is then diluted with water. That’s not how we work. All our products are made from good plant-based raw materials that are pressed so that the natural sugar content is kept at a low and tasty level. At the same time, the method ensures that a large amount of proteins are preserved in the drink.”
We spoke with founder and CEO Christian Christensen, who is currently seeking investors in the most successful category of plantbased business.
What is your current product range?
Our product range consists of high-quality Oat Milk, Oat Milk Barista, Oat Milk Chocolate, Pea Milk, Pea Milk Barista and Pea Milk Chocolate. Our products are enriched with B12, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin D and our oat products are a great source of beta glucans. All our products are certified 100% vegan.
From a product development perspective we have a number of exciting new products in the pipeline based on hemp, quinoa and buckwheat. We expect to see the first products from these projects, ready for the market in the 2nd quarter of 2021.
What is your USP?
Our mission is to develop and market ultra high quality plant based dairy alternatives, with great taste and high nutritional value. We use oats grown right here in Scandinavia. Oats have been a major crop in Scandinavia for centuries. In the old days, it was mainly produced as fodder for the hundreds of thousands of workhorses that were used in agriculture, prior to the industrialization of farming. In 1913 over 70% of all farmland in Denmark was used to grow oats. When the horses disappeared from the agricultural sector, oats were replaced with other crops, but the Nordic region, with its cool damp climate and sandy soil, is a prime location to grow great tasting and nutritional oats. This is what Dryk is all about, great taste and high nutritional value.
You sell in Denmark now, which further markets you will expand into?
Dryk was founded in Denmark, so it is quite natural that our focus has been on our local market in the startup phase, but it was always our plan to expand into other markets. We believe that there are great opportunities for a high-quality brand like ours in nearly every country in the world. Our immediate expansion plans are focused on Asia, North America and Europe, but we have received inquiries from countries like Brazil, Australia and Israel. Our immediate focus is to establish a presence in the US, Asia, United Kingdom and Germany, but we are open for dialogue with new potential partners from all regions.
In which countries do you have partnerships already?
We currently have established non-exclusive partnerships in China, Singapore, Poland and Taiwan. We have received countless inquiries from other countries, but with our current total of four full time staff in our sales team, we have to be selective with regard to our resources. To make it easy for new partners, we have developed a comprehensive partner package that enables us to forward all the required information to a new partner within 24-36 hours, and depending on requirements we are able to ship products within 6-8 weeks from order depending on quantity and language version of the products. All our product packaging will be available in English from 1 July 2020.
Are you seeking further distributors and partners in other countries?
Yes, we are actively looking for partners and distributors all over the world. We see great opportunities in nearly every market as millions of consumers abandon traditional milk or convert to veganism or become vegetarians. With plant milk growth rates of up to 30% p.a. in some markets the right product has immense potential and we have an exceptional product, at the right price, to fulfill that potential.
Who are your investors and are you seeking further investors?
Until now, Marina and I have funded the development of Dryk with the proceeds from the sale of property in Copenhagen, savings and by taking out our superannuation funds. You could say that we are ALL IN and we love it. We could be interested in an additional investor to accelerate our expansion in Europe, Asia and North America as described above.
What is your mission and where will you be in five years?
Our mission will not have changed from what it is today and in 5 year’s time, we have established a relatively strong presence in Europe, US and Asia and I’m confident that our brand and quality will be quite well known.Our sole aim is to make it simple for everybody to convert from animal-based to plant-based milk. That has been our focus from day one and all the way through the development process.
