Sainsburys goes nuts for plant-based vegan paste made by Yorkshire mum at home

When Caroline Barton was looking for a dairy-free alternative to milk she was disappointed find that most nut milks only had about two per cent nuts.

“The rest of it was water,” says the mum of two from Skipton.

“Some of these nut milks were imported from America, so not only were you paying for more packaging but paying to transport water from thousands of miles away,

“We also only had a small fridge at the time and I didn’t have space for lots of cartons or plastic bottles,”

And so she set about making a nut paste which she could keep in the fridge and then dilute when she wanted to use it.

“My children who are 10 and 13 have it on cereal and porridge.”

Caroline reduced her dairy intake due to health reasons three years ago.

“The doctors suggested cutting out dairy was easier on the digestive system and I have noticed a real difference.”

Caroline created the almond / cashew paste, almost by default, whilst experimenting in her farmhouse kitchen making her own nut drink.

After trial and error her home-made nut drink became thicker and thicker and she discovered that the resulting paste had more uses, plus was easier to store in an overcrowded fridge.

“After some tweaking our almond milk became thicker, more intense and creamy which, while being a pleasure to use, also meant less packaging, less waste and less room taken up in that fridge.

“The resulting paste is a wholesome basis for a delicious nut milk but also an indispensable culinary staple with endless possibilities.

“It is great to add to other dishes to make them creamy without having to use dairy,” says Caroline.

“I started to think that if I was feeling this way then there must be other people out there and so I started taking it around vegan fairs and the response was really positive.”

She then needed come up with ta name.

“We just kept playing around the with word nuts, but lots of the names we came up with was already a trade mark.”

In the end she decided on Nooj.

“We wanted to have something that was unusual and yet linked to nuts.”

Caroline realised quite early on that a paste for all round dairy replacement use would be a good option for consumers, particularly as there is a lack of choice and innovation in this free from category. She was also certain that many shoppers shared her dissatisfaction with the meagre nut and excessive water content of many commercial nut drinks.

Nooj has 60 per cent nuts and 40 per cent water – a far higher nut content than conventional nut
 milks.

Caroline has even put together some recipes using her product which includes everything from ice cream to baked cheesecake.

Add Nooj straight from the pack or simply squeeze your Nooj into a cup, jug or bowl and blend with water (hot or cold).

Your start with a little water, stir then add more until you have the consistency you desire. It’s easy, you choose how you like it.

“Almond Nooj makes the best porridge and is a great binder for veggie burgers.”

Following success at vegan trade fairs, Caroline went on to secure her first retail listing at London-based Planet Organic.

“That was a really big step for me,” says the former 3D Designs lecturer.

“Due to the nature of the product it has to be kept refrigerated and therefore we cannot sell it online.

“But I didn’t want to add anything to it to give it a longer shelf life – the whole point is that there is nothing added to it.

“But I was warned that chiller space in supermarkets is premium.”

And Caroline’s perseverance has paid off as she has just managed to secure an exclusive listing with Sainsbury’s.

“I really hope that my story encourages other food entrepreneurs in the county,” says Caroline.

“Yorkshire has been integral to my journey so far from food fairs (Harrogate and Sheffield), to the Leeds-based company that helped with the branding, through to the factory near Thirsk that we are moving production to.”

The Nooj pouch means that the paste can be conveniently stored in the fridge door with the condensed nature of the product meaning less overall packaging.

Nooj also contains more of the whole nut meaning all of the flavour, nutrients and fibre are utilised with less filtered out.

At the moment there are two products, an almond paste and a cashew paste.

“We are just concentrating on this at the moment, but there are endless possibilities for expanding the brand,” says Caroline, who ironically was brought up on a Yorkshire diary farm

Nooj will be available in 150g packs (RRP: Sainsbury’s £3.50) from 150 Sainsbury’s stores from September 23.

The products are found in the chilled department alongside other plant-based drinks.

For more on Nooj, including nutritional information, recipe ideas, and a list of Sainsbury’s stockists (live soon), visit www.noojfood.co.uk