21 Apr 2020
Tags: alternative milk, plant based, plant-based milk, Vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, mylk, NPD, UK first, launch, Chocolate, salted caramel, coffee, Sustainability, locally sourced, barley, RTD, Ready to drink, out of home, on the go, Drinks, post workout, Health, health and wellness, hydration, fibre, calcium, vitamins D and B12, Low Fat
Introducing barley, the new Supergrain … cultivated since 10,000 BC
A brand new brand, with a brand new drink … Bright Barley launches a range of three vegan shakes: the UK's first alternative milk made from barley …
Stand aside oats, rice, soy and almond, Barley is Back: the fibre power pack that has fuelled physical excellence from Roman gladiators to Ethiopian endurance runners …
(NB: syndicated 800 word interview with founder, Jiali Jiang, available for publication at the end of this press release)
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Old Grain New Tricks … Full of fibre and nutrients and packed with sustainability credentials, barley is the original supergrain. It has sustained ancient civilisations since the Iron Age, including the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans, even giving gladiators the name hordearii, or 'eaters of barley'. But in the mid 19th century, it was supplanted by wheat, and has since been largely forgotten in the West for human consumption, despite being plentifully cultivated in the UK. A locally sourced superfood hiding right under our noses! Who knew? The folks at Bright Barley is who …
The Trailblazing Trio … Bright Barley is a small start-up with big plans: to Bring Barley Back. Their inaugural range of delicious, dairy-free shakes - the first barley 'mylk' drinks in the UK - are launching in three crowd-pleaser flavours, Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Coffee, delivering indulgent refreshment, a Health & Wellness go-to, innovative vegan treat or foodie adventure, in a convenient, on-the-go, ready-to-drink format. Along with a tick box tally that verges on the 'show-off' …
- No preservatives, all-natural ingredients
- A source of fibre that is low in fat
- High in calcium, providing 50% of the recommended daily intake, with added vitamins D & B12
- Dairy-free and suitable for vegans
- Made with organic barley, grown on carefully sourced UK farms and ground at Shipton Mill
- No hidden land use, water or food mile excesses
- Packaged in recyclable, paperboard Tetra Pak cartons made from renewable FSC material
Weight: 330ml | RRP: from £1.69 / 330ml unit | Shelf life: 273 days (ambient) | Serve: Best enjoyed chilled and, once opened, keep refrigerated and consume within 24 hours | Availability: www.brightbarley.com, from 24th April 2020, with further selected stockists, including Yumbles from 20th April 2020 and The Food Market (date tbc).
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Startling Stats: The plant-based market is no longer niche. On current trajectories, 25% of Britons look set to be vegan and vegetarian by 2025 and just under 50% will be flexitarian*. Nearly a quarter already consume plant based milks, increasing to 27% in the millennial and Gen X markets**(sources: *The Vegan Society, **Mintel)
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Meet the pioneers on the barley frontier … Bright Barley drinks were the brainchild of Jiali Jiang, soon after she graduated from Cambridge University in Environmental Policy. She was looking to develop a healthy product that addressed all her passions: using ancient grains, key organic ingredients (namely agave syrup, barley powder and barley syrup), and with a strong environmental profile. Product development began in earnest in 2016, with four years of trialling recipes, consumer research, sourcing likeminded, independent suppliers and quality ingredients with impeccable provenance, before perfecting a first trio of vegan shakes …
Salted Caramel … the unbeatable duo of sweetness and sea salt, paired with the natural nuttiness of barley. For that other winning combo: refreshment and indulgence.
Ingredients: Water, Agave Syrup, Barley Malt Syrup (2.6%), Barley Flour (2.6%), Maize Starch, Sunflower Oil, Vegetable Fibre (Inulin), Natural Flavourings, Calcium Carbonate, Sea Salt, Concentrate (Pumpkin, Apple), Stabiliser (Gellan Gum), Vitamins (D, B12)
Calories: 162 / 330ml | Fat: 2.6g / 330ml | Salt: 0.59g / 330ml | Fibre: 3.5g / 330ml
Chocolate … Rich, chocolatey sweetness, perfectly paired with the delicious earthiness of barley. Equally comfortable as chilled on-the-go treat or post-work out hydration.
Ingredients: Water, Agave Syrup, Barley Malt Syrup (2.6%), Barley Flour (2.6%), Maize Starch, Sunflower Oil, Vegetable Fibre (Inulin), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder (1%), Calcium Carbonate, Natural Flavourings, Sea Salt, Stabiliser (Gellan Gum), Vitamins (D, B12)
Calories: 168 / 330ml | Fat: 3.0g / 330ml | Salt: 0.26g / 330ml | Fibre: 4.3g / 330ml
Coffee … a cool, coffee pick-me-up, with the punch of Colombian Arabica beans balanced by the natural sweetness of bright, beautiful barley.
Ingredients: Water, Agave Syrup, Barley Malt Syrup (2.6%), Barley Flour (2.6%), Maize Starch, Sunflower Oil, Vegetable Fibre (Inulin), Colombian Arabica Coffee (0.5%), Natural Flavouring, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Carbonate (Acidity Regulator), Sea Salt, Stabiliser (Gellan Gum), Vitamins (D, B12).
Caffeine: 67mg / 330ml | Calories: 168 / 330ml | Fat: 2.5g / 330ml | Salt: 0.26g / 330ml | Fibre: 3.6g / 330ml
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Drink like an Eco-warrior … Consumers continue to turn their back on cow's milk for health, environmental and ethical reasons (in that order), yet not all alternative milks are as environmentally virtuous as they appear, with hidden water, land and food mile excesses abounding. Not so barley, which grows in the most marginal of conditions, is the world's fourth largest crop, and is farmed in the UK. In fact, the 'Bright' in our Barley comes from its halo …!
“At Bright Barley, all we do is barley so it has to be the best,” explains Bright Barley founder, Jiali Jiang. “We have meticulously sourced and developed relationships with suppliers of high quality, organic barley flour, grown through sustainable farming practices here in the UK. Our first range of vegan, alternative milk shakes encapsulates everything that Bright Barley is about: innovation, uniqueness, quality and indulgence, with a strong conscience. We have spent four years making sure that everything is right with it and are proudly sending it out into the busy 'mylk' market, confident that there is nothing to compare. We sincerely hope that you agree.”
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Startling stats … Although barley is the world's fourth largest crop grown and still a staple foodstuff across many Asian and African countries, it was supplanted by wheat in Europe and the Middle East by the middle of the 19th century; and today only 2% of global barley crops is used for direct human consumption.
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Editors' notes …
About Bright Barley … A small company that wants to make a big difference, Bright Barley was founded, in 2019, on a mission to reinvent and reintroduce the nutritional and environmental benefits of barley to our diets. Founder, Jiali Jiang (pictured right), grew up in an area of China near the Tibetan Plateau, where barley, with its hardy ability to grow in extreme altitudes and climates, formed an important part of the diet. Jiali came to the UK to study Environmental Policy at Cambridge University and after graduating in 2014, aged 25, she joined forces with a Masters student from Oxford University on developing a food product that involved their shared interest in ancient grains and organic ingredients. Focusing on barley brought together her cultural and ethical DNA, but, critically, was a healthy, high fibre, nutritious and delicious ingredient, entirely absent in the current UK alternative milk market; which could be locally sourced from organic farmers, ticking all available boxes. Further innovative barley products are already in the pipeline, so stay tuned …
What's the big deal with barley …? Barley is one of the oldest cultivated grains, dating back to the Iron Age. It is a nutritional dynamo, which, according to USFDA (2006), EU EFSA (2011), and Health Canada (2012), is linked to a reduced risk of developing coronary heart disease and an ability to reduce the rise in blood glucose after a meal. Barley helps lower cholesterol, provides slow release energy, so enhanced satiety, improves digestive health and is an excellent source of heart-healthy beta-glucans. Over 50% of us don't consume enough fibre, which also supports digestion, keeping colon and intestines healthy, and helps maintain weight. Government guidelines recommend a daily intake of 30g of fibre, and barley is a powerful source of this essential food. So, quite a 'big deal', in short. Growing awareness of the benefits of healthy diets that deliver fewer available calories, are high in dietary fibre, low in fat, especially saturated fatty acids and trans-fatty acids, rich in antioxidants and other protective compounds, has triggered the reemergence of barley as a natural, inexpensive, available food source that meets these criteria.
Sustainability claims … Sustainability lies at the heart of the Bright Barley ethos. One of the reasons for developing a barley range, in fact, was the availability of high quality, organic barley grain in the UK; and Bright Barley has built strong relationships with producers and suppliers who share the same values. All their barley flour comes from organic farms in the UK, which practice sustainable farming methods, including crop rotation to improve the biodiversity of the soil; and their grain is ground in Shipton Mill in the Cotswolds, mentioned in the Domesday Book. Bright Barley drinks are packaged in recyclable Tetra Pak cartons that are made from paperboard, a renewable material which is sourced from Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™)* and other controlled sources. For more information on how barley's large and diverse genetic banks, spread across millennia and disparate geographies, could be a nutritious key to fighting climate change and feeding future generations, take a look at the Sustainable Food Trust here: https://tinyurl.com/vstdfy9
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Press enquiries …
Lisa Jones, Dandelion PR
t: 07968 963456
Bright Barley links and tags …
tw / fb: @brightbarley
IG: @brightbarleydrinks
tags: #bringingbarleyback #theoriginalalternative #oldgrainnewtricks #fibrepower
- LIMITED PREVIEW PRODUCT SAMPLES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. FOR SAMPLE REQUESTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR CURRENT POSTAL ADDRESS TO lisa@dandelionpr.co.uk ...
- YOU ARE VERY WELCOME TO USE, EDIT AND CREDIT AS PREFERRED THE FOLLOWING 800-WORD INTERVIEW WITH BRIGHT BARLEY FOUNDER, JIALI JIANG, ON: “STARTING UP IN LOCKDOWN”, FINDING INSPIRATION IN THE HISTORIC STAPLE DIET OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAUS AND REINTRODUCING THE SUPERGRAIN BARLEY TO THE UK …
- FOR WORD COUNT SPECIFIC EDITS OF THE SAME ATTACHED INTERVIEW, OR INTERVIEW AND FURTHER IMAGE REQUESTS, PLEASE CONTACT lisa@dandelionpr.co.uk …
Starting up in lockdown …
Bright Barley drinks founder, Jiali Jiang, on launching the first barley alternative milk range into a locked down Britain … and reintroducing the original supergrain, first cultivated in 10,000BC …
Launching a new brand and introducing an entirely unprecedented product to the UK drinks market is a risky, logistically fraught project at the best of times. Which this isn't.
Start-up brand, Bright Barley, has launched the UK's first range of plant-based milk drinks made from barley, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic; with Britain in complete lockdown and founder Jiali Jiang and her team geographically marooned.
“No one could have predicted, when we were planning our launch, that this would become a global crisis,” says Jiali. “In a way, being unprepared for the pandemic and its impact was a help – we just carried on. And thanks to our fabulous production and distribution partners, lifeline conference platforms such as Zoom to keep us all in contact; and some unexpected added benefits to our commitment to sourcing locally and independently, Bright Barley has been launched on time, at the peak of a global crisis.”
Jiali was a 25-year-old, recent Cambridge graduate in 2016, when she first had the idea of harnessing the healthiness and history of one of the first cultivated crops: the forgotten supergrain, barley. Having studied Environmental Policy, she was keen to bring together her interests in organic ingredients, sustainability and ancient grains in a new food or drink product; and realised that the answer had been on her doorstep all her life.
She was brought up in a region of China close to the Tibetan Plateaus, where barley has been a mainstay for millennia, for both its nutritional value and hardiness at such altitudes. “For Tibetans”, she explains, “barley is a staple foodstuff, particularly “tsampa”, which is a type of bread made from roasted barley, but is also used variously in cakes, porridges, soups and the alcoholic drink 'chhaang”. So, when I came to the UK, I was amazed to discover that this delicious little grain, full of fibre and heart-healthy beta-glucans, and cultivated here since the Iron Age, was now largely relegated to animal fodder. Bright Barley is all about changing that.”
After four intensive years of product development, Jiali and her team have perfected a range of vegan barley shakes in Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Coffee flavours, filling a gap in the UK market for a grain-based 'mylk', tapping a booming category that a quarter of Britons now claim to buy into and bringing impressive sustainability credentials to the party too.
“Provenance and sustainability is important to both me and our target consumer, and discovering high quality barley flour grown in the UK was central to my decision to develop a barley drink.” Jiali explains. She has been meticulous in sourcing her ingredients, including using grain from selected UK organic farms, which is ground at Shipton Mill in the Cotswolds, where flour has been produced since Medieval times. “So many plant-based milks have hidden environmental impacts on land and water usage or in food miles. Ours was going to be different in every way.”
That very commitment to reducing food miles by UK sourcing would prove vital to ensuring that ingredients were available and delivered on time for the first production run in April 2020. It was a date that the team was committed to, irrespective of the corona crisis; with ingredients ordered, factory booked, packaging arriving and distributors already eagerly signed up to list the trailblazing range.
“We have been lucky,” admits Jiali. “Because few of our ingredients are bespoke and all are natural, our supplies were relatively straightforward and largely unaffected. And our decision to support independents has also helped, with our family-owned, Somerset-based processors remaining open - safely, but defiantly – as they have done since 1898.”
“We did have to safeguard our routes to market, however, and the first thing we did when lockdown was announced was expand our retail plans and build an ecommerce side to our website. In just two weeks.”
The team were having to adapt to a new set of changed circumstances every week, in fact. From shelving plans to launch at cancelled trade shows to targeting online retailers to scouting for a photographer who had a home studio for the product photoshoots.
“This may be something of a baptism of fire,” says Jiali, “but it has certainly made us resourceful. Ultimately, the product will do the talking, however, and I'm confident that we have developed a range that is unique, delicious, healthy and timely.”
Bright Barley has continuing ambitious plans for barley, with new product lines already in development in their mission to “Bring Barley Back”. As one of the first cultivated crops, that sustained such great civilisations as the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, the return of the original supergrain is long overdue.
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