Plant-based drinks manufacturer Alpro has committed to source its oat-based drinks products from British farmers using 100% British oats.

Alpro’s parent company, Danone, has invested £41m in a site in Kettering, Northamptonshire, with oats sourced from local farms and processed at the nearby Navara Oat Mill.

It is expected that 58m litres a year of oat-based drinks will be manufactured using British oats on site.

See also: Plant-based milk linked to higher depression risk, study finds

Navara Oat Mill is a joint venture between Frontier Agriculture and Camgrain which became fully operational last year and is capable of processing more than 100,000t a year.

James Skidmore, managing director at Navara Oat Milling, said: “The rise in the use of plant-based food ingredients has certainly brought changes to the farming industry.

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“However, this exciting new investment by Danone has opened up more opportunities for oat farmers to broaden the products they produce and markets that they grow for.

“When businesses back British agriculture, farmers have more options for their crops, leading to increased resilience and potential for growth.

“The investment will boost capacity and production at the Navara mill, bringing substantial benefits to the local community, both in Kettering and further afield.”

James Mayer, president of Danone UK & Ireland, said: “This significant UK investment in manufacturing from home-grown oats is an exciting step forward and a great demonstration of how we’re innovating to deliver healthy and tasty food and drink sustainably.”

The UK oat based drinks market has increased in value from £155m to £275m over the past five years, according to market insights firm Circana.

However, industry figures suggest that currently only 1% of oat drinks sold in the UK are guaranteed to have been sourced from British oats.

Oatly, the world’s largest oat-based drink company, cancelled plans last year to build a UK factory and continues to manufacture its products in Europe.

It had planned to build a factory in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, to produce 300m litres a year of oat-based drinks, supplied by British oats, with potential to expand output to 450m litres a year.