Published · 6d agoProduct2 min read
A court can revoke your category noun, and the 5% volume slide sets the price
Circana data reported by Morning Brew has dairy-free milk volumes falling more than 5% a year for three years running. The UK and Swiss naming rulings land on a category already contracting.
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What happened
- Retail sales by volume of dairy-free milks have dropped more than 5% three years in a row, per research firm Circana.
- The UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Oatly AB's appeal, holding that "POST MILK GENERATION" uses "milk" as a designation within Point 5 of the 2013 Regulation and is not clearly describing a characteristic quality, so the trade mark is invalid for oat-based food and drink.
- The Swiss Federal Court rejected Danone's appeal over a carton bearing the words "not milk", ruling that a vegan alternative to milk cannot mention the word milk.
- Three consecutive annual volume declines of at least 5% leave about 85.7% of the starting base, a cumulative fall of at least roughly 14%.
- John Crawford, senior vice president of Client Insights-Dairy at Circana, said plant milk was down 3.7% in dollars and 6% in volume for the 52 weeks ending July 13, while dairy milk was up 4.8% in dollars and flat in volume.
Compiled by The Product DeskSomething wrong?How this is made
Why it matters
The figure is a retail volume number, not a legal one: sales by volume of dairy-free milks have dropped more than 5% in each of three consecutive years, according to research firm Circana as reported by Morning Brew [1]. It matters because two courts have just stripped the word "milk" off plant drink packaging while that slide is running [2] [3].
Compounded, three annual declines of at least 5% remove roughly a seventh of the base [4]. The composition explains where it comes from. Circana's John Crawford said plant milk was down 3.7% in dollars and 6% in volume for the 52 weeks ending 13 July, against dairy milk up 4.8% in dollars and flat in volume [5]. Almond is 66% of plant milk volume and fell 9.5% by volume; oat is 20% of volume and rose 1.3% [6] [7]. Household reach is the harder constraint: Circana puts plant milk in 38% of US households annually versus 91% for dairy milk, down 1.4 percentage points [8].
That is the base the naming rulings now tax. On 11 February 2026 the UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Oatly's appeal, holding "POST MILK GENERATION" invalid as a trade mark for oat-based food and drink [2] [9]. The Intellectual Property Office hearing officer had found the same prohibition did not reach non-agricultural goods such as T-shirts [10], and Oatly, having retired the slogan, handed out "contraband" merchandise carrying it [11]. In Switzerland the Federal Supreme Court rejected Danone's appeal by four votes to one over the Alpro slogan "SHHH...THIS IS NOT M*LK", reasoning that stylised spelling does not change the fact that "milk" appears on pack [3] [12] [13]. Danone Switzerland says it acknowledges the ruling and is evaluating options [14].
So artwork, slogans and pack copy get respent on a shrinking volume base, in a category where 57% of consumers already say the experience does not meet expectations, per NewMoo's Daphna Miller [15]. Meanwhile dairy's own growth engine is a claim no court is contesting: US dairy products with protein call-outs are a $10.4bn slice of a $104bn market, up 13.7% in value and 7.5% in volume against 2.0% and 0.3% for dairy overall [16] [17].
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Retail sales by volume of dairy-free milks have dropped more than 5% three years in a row, per research firm Circana.
- [2]
The UK Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Oatly AB's appeal, holding that "POST MILK GENERATION" uses "milk" as a designation within Point 5 of the 2013 Regulation and is not clearly describing a characteristic quality, so the trade mark is invalid for oat-based food and drink.
ReportedView cited source - [3]
The Swiss Federal Court rejected Danone's appeal over a carton bearing the words "not milk", ruling that a vegan alternative to milk cannot mention the word milk.
ReportedView cited source - [5]
John Crawford, senior vice president of Client Insights-Dairy at Circana, said plant milk was down 3.7% in dollars and 6% in volume for the 52 weeks ending July 13, while dairy milk was up 4.8% in dollars and flat in volume.
- [6]
Almond accounts for 66% of plant milk volume and is down 7.1% in dollars and 9.5% in volume.
- [7]
Oat is the second-largest plant milk segment at 20% of volume, flat in dollars and up 1.3% in volume.
Sources & coverage · 6 publishers
The reporting this story was synthesized from, earliest first. Every link goes to the original.
- supremecourt.uk6d agoDairy UK Ltd (Respondent) v Oatly AB (Appellant) - UK Supreme Court
- foodnavigator.com6d agoDanone’s Alpro blocked by dairy label ruling
