Australian farmers are setting their sights on the booming Asian bubble tea market with a groundbreaking healthy alternative to the popular beverage. Researchers at the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) have unveiled a nutritious variation of bubble tea that incorporates oats, offering a healthier option by replacing a portion of its sugar content.
By blending oat-derived beta-glucan, a beneficial soluble fiber, with tapioca, scientists have successfully reduced the sugar content of the drink without compromising its beloved flavor profile. This innovation opens doors to cater to health-conscious consumers while capitalizing on the widespread popularity of bubble tea, which originated in Taiwan in the 1980s and has since gained global acclaim.
Jack King, AEGIC’s barley and oat quality program manager, emphasized the significance of this development in addressing the health concerns associated with traditional bubble tea. “Tapioca, by its nature, is relatively high in sugar,” explained King. “The beauty of this is we’re not actually changing the flavor profile. We’re just introducing this as an ingredient in foods without changing the taste or texture of the product, but we’re adding this health benefit.”
This move into the bubble tea market follows AEGIC’s successful ventures into oat-based products, including noodle and rice alternatives. The potential of oat-based bubble tea to tap into the global bubble tea market, valued at over $4 billion, presents an enticing opportunity for Australian cereal producers.
While the oat-based bubbles have been successfully developed in AEGIC’s laboratories in Perth, their introduction to the market is still pending. However, the prospect of entering the booming bubble tea industry presents promising prospects for Australia’s cereal growers, offering a potential avenue to bolster the domestic and global oat markets.
Nick Panizza, a grain and cereal grower from Williams, underscores the significance of consistent market growth for oats. “For something like oats, that’s a smaller market at the moment, so any consistent growth in markets over an extended period of time will be beneficial,” Panizza noted.
With projections indicating a 10 percent annual growth in the Australian bubble tea industry over the next six years, the introduction of oat-based bubble tea could not only meet the demand for healthier beverage options but also provide stability and growth opportunities for Australia’s cereal producers. As farmers await the market’s response to this innovative product, the potential for oats to carve out a niche in the burgeoning bubble tea market appears promising.
