For some consumers, a glass of raw milk is the most authentic way to enjoy dairy.
But regulators are clear: drinking milk that hasn’t undergone pasteurisation to destroy pathogens such as Salmonella and Listeria can cause illness.
And yet, an increasing number of consumers gravitate towards raw milk in pursuit of authenticity and, perhaps, something unconventional.
Raw milk isn’t widely available – in the US, under 5% of adults consume raw milk at least once a year, while in Europe, only about 6% of all milk is consumed or sold raw. US consumers have fuelled demand for raw milk in recent years, turning a niche category into a quiet phenomenon, with even health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitting he drinks raw milk.
But selling unpasteurised milk remains tricky, both from commercial and regulatory perspective.
For dairy processors, the question is how to formulate milk that’s raw in style (think mouthfeel, flavour, smell and that distinct ‘cream top’) but safe in the eyes of regulators. In many markets, achieving this combination would unlock commercial opportunities beyond the farm gate, where raw milk sales are otherwise often restricted to.
To that end, a Scottish dairy may have found a solution.
Brewed milk
Ayrshire-based dairy producer Mossgiel has come up with a method that maintains milk’s raw-like flavour and mouthfeel while also ensuring it’s safe for consumption. The company produces non-standardised milk – meaning they don’t skim the cream – and ‘brews’ it to a temperature of 68°C – a threshold that destroys pathogens but also preserves flavour and functionality.
The milk is sold in the UK by door-to-door delivery service Modern Milkman, whose head of commercial, Jenny Thomason, said Mossgiel’s farmer Bryce Cunningham figured out the exact processing temperature through trial and error.
“It’s not that [68°C] is a magic number,” she said. “What he’s actually found is that the temperature at which protein starts to destabilise in milk is between 60°C and 70°C. So once you tip over that, past 70°C – which is where standard pasteurisation sits, at around 72 degrees – that’s when the quality of froth really changes.”
At the same time, keeping the cream in – with Mossgiel’s milk containing between 4.5% and 4.9% fat, versus standard whole milk at 3.6% - makes for a distinctly decadent texture and flavour. “The cream is where a lot of the flavour in the milk sits, and the mechanical process of homogenisation does materially reduce the flavour slightly. By leaving it non‑homogenised, you get a really, really flavourful product,” Thomason said.
That has wide-ranging implications – from longer-lasting foam to a cleaner product overall, given that it’s minimally-processed yet entirely safe.
Raw milk is in demand
The reason why Modern Milkman started to stock Mossgiel’s organic brewed whole milk is sky-rocketing demand for raw milk.
“We were looking for a way of giving customers the closest alternative to raw milk that we possibly could – because the demand has just increased and increased,” Thomason explained. “Over the past seven to eight months, raw milk has been the highest‑requested product.”
This interest is fuelled by trends around naturalness and increasing awareness of the harm of ultra-processed foods. “The least processed form of milk you could possibly have is milk straight from a cow with nothing going into it – and that’s what raw milk represents to people,” said Thomason.
That perception isn’t entirely shaped by pasteurisation being viewed negatively, she added.
“I don’t think pasteurisation is necessarily the big problem,” Thomason said. “I think the problem for a lot of customers is a distrust in manufacturers and in what unseen processing is happening to the food they’re consuming. At least when you say something is raw, it’s a guarantee that it hasn’t been processed at all – and I think that’s where a lot of this interest is coming from.”
Awareness around milk safety also isn’t particularly high – in the US, where the raw milk trend first emerged in a major way, only 56% of consumers understand that drinking raw milk may be risky.
Over in the UK, there is no way to safely provide raw milk to customers at scale outside the farm gate, Thomason explained – meaning that partnering with Mossgiel was crucial to offering the closest alternative to raw milk commercially.
The raw-like appeal isn’t the only USP either: provenance and seasonality also play a role in why consumers would pick Mossgiel’s brewed milk over another sold by Modern Milkman.
Being an organic dairy means cows are at pasture for most of the year, and their diet has a direct impact on the milk’s flavour and fat content.
“During the summer, cows are out in the fields on fresh grass, and what fresh grass is full of is antioxidants,” Thomason said. “That means you get this really light, much sweeter flavour profile in the milk – you can definitely tell spring milk.
“As you move into winter and cows start eating silage, you get a slightly earthier tone to the milk. It also has a slightly higher saturated fat content in the winter, which means you get better creaminess and mouthfeel.
“It’s really a balance throughout the year – the sweetness changes quite distinctly, and so does the creaminess.”
Unique product, premium price
Mossgiel’s Organic Brewed Whole Milk in 1L bottles is currently sold at £2.80 per litre – a 115% premium compared to Modern Milkman’s non-branded organic whole milk offering, at £1.30 per pint.
Thomason explained much of that is down to economies of scale, but the cost also reflects Modern Milkman’s focus on return and reuse.
“Like any product, there are economies of scale, and at the moment this is small‑scale, so the price is reflective of that,” she said, adding: “If you compare it not to conventional milk but to products with strong provenance, transparency and process – things like craft kombucha – then it’s positioned at the premium end, but it’s not unreasonable.”
Crucially, if demand for rich, authentic milk continues to climb, there’s scope for brewed milk to emerge out of its niche and turn into a bigger trend – in a similar way sourdough gradually took over the bakery aisle.
“This could be the sourdough of milk,” Thomason said. “Sourdough started out incredibly niche and relatively high‑end in terms of pricing, but with clear benefits. Now, every shop offers multiple sourdough options – and this could follow the same path.”
Today, Mossgiel is available exclusively via Modern Milkman’s door-to-door delivery service in a 1L return and reuse bottle. For consumers intrigued by the raw milk hype, this is likely the closest alternative to unpasteurised milk that’s safe for drinking – complete with rich flavour, creamy mouthfeel, and that nostalgic ‘cream top’.
