Vegan Rock Milk to Hit Shelves by Summer

New company Hard Rock Udders debuted its premier product Rock Milk—a mineral-rich vegan milk—at a natural foods trade show last week in New York City. The company’s founder Pamela Granitass tells VegNews that the idea for the innovative product came from her interest in the growing plant-based milk industry. “With almond, cashew, potato, tomato, banana, and avocado plant milk varieties already performing so well with consumers,” Granitass says, “I looked around and thought, why not milk a rock?” Granitass partnered with geotechnical engineer Bob DiJermio to create the new milk through the natural process of serpentinization. “While initial iterations proved difficult,” DiJermio says, “after several trials, I am now able to extract four gallons of pure milk from only 15 rocks.” While producing his first batch, DiJermio discovered that rock milk was high in lactonite—a mineral only present in rocks that has been attributed to reducing the risk of brain farts. The duo operates from what they call “The Rockin’ Rock” plant in Boulder, CO, and will launch their first consumer product—an unsweetened, non-GMO concoction of rock milk with cinnamon and vanilla, retailing for $1.99 per 11-ounce refrigerated carton—by the end of this summer. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has expressed an early interest in introducing rock milk—which is naturally organic but may contain traces of dust—to the menu at the company’s 4,600 US locations. “Given the uproar we created with the addition of almond milk to our plant-based milk arsenal,” Schultz says, “Starbucks is excited about developing new drinks using this innovative mineral-rich concoction.” The coffee giant is considering adding several menu items that use the rock milk, including an Iced Marble Macchiato and Steamed Shale Scopadino.

Editor’s Note: #AprilFools! Vegan innovation today is at an all-time high, and with ingenuity and compassion, plant-based entrepreneurs are pushing the boundaries of what can be made without animal exploitation. To a new, exciting vegan future!