Alpro is set to be bought by Dean, the U.S.’s largest dairy processor. At the moment Alpro is part of the Vandemoortele group, Belgium’s largest privately held food company which makes frozen dough, margarines and vegetable fats. But, it seems 325 million euros was enough to pursuade them to sell Alpro and Provamel to Dean.

According to the Vandemoortele website, “for over 25 years, Alpro has been championing a healthier, more sustainable way of producing tasty products”. But now they will belong to a company that is in no way healthy or sustainable. Milk contains saturated fat and is not a healthy part of our diet. It has been linked to cancer, especially breast cancer, as well as heart disease. Dairy cows produce massive amounts of methane and often they are fed soy that is imported from Latin America, which causes the destruction of the rainforest and is often genetically modified.

What I liked about Alpro was the fact that their soy is not genetically modified, they take great care with regards to where the soy comes from (ie not from deforested Amazon) and that they really seem to care about health, fair trade and the environment. For many vegans, Alpro is the preferred choice, but knowing their money is now going to a milk company will no doubt change this. How do we know they’ll keep up the same standards? The Body Shop, Innocent, Green & Blacks - they’re all doing it. One day it’s just all going to be one huge company that owns all the others. What ever happened to consumer choice?