Dairy alternative drinks are becoming so mainstream that they might soon deserve their own name, says David Sprinkle, research director and publisher of Packaged Facts, Rockville, Md.  

 Soymilk continues to be the most popular dairy alternative beverage today, Virginia Lee, senior research analyst at Chicago-based Euromonitor International, told Beverage Industry in its November issue.  

Shifts among category leaders took place in the dairy alternatives market as almond milk and kefir helped contribute to category growth. The refrigerated kefir, milk substitutes and soymilk category grew 16.4 percent for $608.3 million in sales, according to SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, for the 52 weeks ending May 15 in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, gas and convenience stores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Wal-Mart.

Alternatives and dairy-based drinks reported mixed results this year.  Dairy alternatives, kefir drinks and dairy-based drinks reported a mixed bag of results this year.