Oat, almond, soy, rice, potato, pea, hazelnut… The list of possible dairy alternatives out there is long. In Ukraine, the country’s top selling brand of plant-based milk is now championing Ukrainian buckwheat as a “superhero cereal”, promoting buckwheat milk as something that can improve brain health, mood and sleep.
Green Smile is a brand from one of Ukraine’s biggest dairy producers Loostdorf. It was launched as Ideal Nemoloko in 2018 before rebranding as Green Smile in 2021. The buckwheat milk has been part of the brand's portfolio since the beginning.
The milk is made with 100% Ukrainian buckwheat and contains only five ingredients: water, buckwheat flour, sunflower oil, carrageenan and salt. With 51 kcal, 2.5g fat, 0.7g protein and 6.5g carbs per 100 ml the product has a similar nutrition profile to the brand’s oat milk, albeit with a slightly lower protein content (0.7g vs 1g).
This is not the first innovative plant milk from Green Smile; the brand has previously experimented with milks made from hemp and sunflower. Today the Green Smile portfolio comprises:
- Oat milk (barista version and regular)
- Coconut milk (barista version and regular)
- Almond milk (barista version and regular)
- Rice milk
- Soy milk
- Buckwheat milk
Marketing for the buckwheat milk states that it “helps our brain to think, nerves not to strain, and the mood to always be positive.” Buckwheat is further said to help in the case of insomnia.
Meanwhile, the brand makes claims about organ health (thanks to the iron and vitamin E content), metabolism (thanks to vitamin E); bone and heart health (thanks to potassium and vitamin B); growth and development (thanks to iodine); dental health (thanks to fluoride); and finally the nervous system (thanks to vitamin B).
