Dairy Companies Want Fizzy Milk to Be the Next Big Thing

Want the fizzy fun of soda and the health benefits of milk all rolled into one? Probably not.

But if you are enticed by the idea of milk-based soda, good news: Danish milk giant Arla Food, which is owned by 12,500 farmers, is looking to make carbonated milk the next big thing. According to The Local, Arla will begin rolling out its new fizzy milk offerings in test markets in the UK, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.

The product range is set to include a tea and a protein-heavy energy drink, in the hopes of capitalizing on what they say is an untapped market. Milk-based beverages already bring in 230 million euros every year for the company, but Arla wants to be a global leader in the milk industry, and, in their estimation, fizzy milk is a crucial part of that.

In fact, Arla is hoping that dairy drinks like carbonated milk will allow its sales to triple to 700 million euros by 2020. That might sound like a lot, but it's a drop in the milk bucket; the milk beverage industry pulls in 100 billion euros ($112 billion) worldwide every year.

"We're seeing that the markets for these products are growing rapidly," Arla Food marketing officer Hanna Søndergaard reportedly said, adding that the company is "ready to produce for example carbonated milk and fruit beverages. The tech and the product itself are already there. We are now going to develop the brand and set up distribution."

But carbonated milk may not be the easiest sell for Western consumers. Arla isn't the first company to try sell fizzy milk to a mass market. Soda kingpin Coca-Cola tried it a few years back in North America with its much maligned VIO drink and is still tweaking the VIO brand in other markets. Also, a British company called Britvic pulled its milky Tango Strange Soda from shelves after just one year because "it proved too challenging for customers."

Maybe there's a reason why this market remains untapped. Either way, it sounds better than cockroach exoskeleton milk, which is also set to become a thing in the near future.