Creator of Australia's first almond milk for baristas celebrates success of Almond Breeze Barista Blend with new initiative for Australian baristas

Australia's leading almond milk brand, Almond Breeze, is hitting the road to find the country's best baristas, following the successful launch of its Almond Breeze Barista Blend in Australia, just 18 months ago.

The creator of this world first almond milk variety designed specifically for coffee, has launched a nationwide competition that will touch each state, where baristas from across the land will be invited to craft the most creative latte art using Almond Breeze Barista Blend.

Roger Ringwood, Country Director at Blue Diamond Growers Australia said: “Almond Breeze Barista Blend has achieved significant success in terms of sales, barista endorsement and distribution presence since launching in 2014. We continue to break the mould and wanted to take this to the next level with a program designed to support and highlight the world-class barista talent we have in Australia.”

The first of eight rounds will take place in Darwin in June and will progress around the nation ahead of a grand final in Sydney in October, where the winner will take out the title of Breezey Grand Master 2016 and win an all-expense paid trip to America.

“We realised that more and more consumers were interested in enjoying an almond milk coffee. Working with and listening to baristas we tested and trialed our Almond Breeze Barista Blend variety over the course of a year. The result is a product which provides baristas with a high quality, dairy-free product that is easy to use and compliments their skill without compromising on taste,” Roger continued.

Almond milk is the fastest growing milk in the non-dairy category and in just a few years has overtaken soy in terms of sales for the first time.*

Kevin Chilvers, Sales Director at Café Culture, added: “We've seen such a high demand for almond milk over the past two years and Almond Breeze Barista Blend really taps into this rapidly growing category. We have had such a great response from professional baristas around the country because the simple truth is Almond Breeze Barista Blend really does work. When we first started holding events some people in the coffee community had doubts so we are proud to say that the proof is in the pour.”

The Breezey Masters is part of Almond Breeze's larger campaign, Own The Morning, which looks to help simplify consumers' daily lives and start the morning on the right foot. Almond Breeze launched its first smoothie eBook earlier this year, helping Australians take simple steps towards living a healthier lifestyle in 2016.

“We are also hosting Wellness Morning roadshows throughout 2016, bringing the Almond Breeze brand to capital cities around Australia to provide consumers with some simple tips on how to live a more balanced lifestyle, as well as showcase the ease of use of Almond Breeze in the morning routine,” Ringwood concluded.

Almond Breeze Barista Blend is exclusive to the food service market. The specifically formulated blend contains no added cane sugar and only has 60 calories per 250ml serving, as well as containing 30% fewer calories than a coffee made with skim milk or regular soy milk.

*$ retail sales Q1 2016

For further information, images or spokespeople, please contact:

Brooke Davie, ICON International Communications
Tel: + 61 2 8235 7600 / BDavie@iconinternational.com.au 

Jess Moore, ICON International Communications
Tel: + 61 2 8235 7600 / jmoore@iconinternational.com.au

About Almond Breeze
Almond Breeze is a leading international brand of almond milk and is the fastest growing brand in the nondairy sector. It is a delicious low-fat milk alternative made from almonds, a natural super-food, and is completely free from dairy, eggs, lactose, casein, peanuts and gluten. The unique formula in Almond Breeze comes from Blue Diamond, The Almond People, who have over 100 years' experience in growing and harvesting the world's finest almonds. Launching in Australia in April 2012 after a decade of success in the US, Almond Breeze is produced locally with manufacturing and production facilities at Taren Point, Sydney. Barista Blend is currently exclusive to the trade though Almond Breeze has an extensive range of varieties available to customers including Almond Breeze Unsweetened, Unsweetened Almond Cashew, Chocolate, Original, Unsweetened Vanilla and Unsweetened Almond Coconut, and is suitable for anyone looking to live a healthier lifestyle. For more information, visit: www.almondbreeze.com.au