‘Win’ for Big Dairy is a Loss for Consumers, Says Vegan Campaign Group

Viva! condemns the UK Supreme Court ruling against Oatly as the latest in a series of industry-backed attacks on the plant-based sector – and calls out Dairy UK for protecting its profits, not consumers.

• Viva! says the UK Supreme Court ruling has nothing to do with consumer clarity and everything to do with hampering competition, pointing out that ‘peanut butter’, ‘coconut milk’ and ‘coconut cream’ face no labelling restrictions
• Move comes while both the European Parliament and the European Commission are discussing a potential ban on the use of ‘meaty’ names for plant-based alternatives
• The effect of such rulings is a crackdown on accessible, consumer-friendly language for products that are better for animals and for the planet
• Oat milk is the UK’s favourite plant-based drink, according to analysts, with strong growth reflecting its popularity among consumers

12 February 2026: Viva!, the UK’s leading vegan campaigning group, has denounced yesterday’s UK Supreme Court decision, which ruled that oat drink company Oatly can no longer use the slogan ‘Post Milk Generation’ to market its plant-based products in Britain. Dairy UK, the trade body that brought the original case, described itself as “delighted” by the outcome.

The ruling, handed down on Wednesday (11 February) by five Supreme Court justices, marks the end of a years-long legal battle between Oatly and Dairy UK, an industry body backed by some of Britain’s biggest dairy producers, including Arla Foods UK and Lactalis McLelland. The court found that the phrase ‘Post Milk Generation’ breaches regulations that restrict the use of dairy terms such as ‘milk’, ‘cheese’ and ‘yoghurt’ to products derived from animals. Oatly had argued the slogan referred to a group of consumers rather than describing the product itself, but the court disagreed, ruling the trademark invalid.

For Viva!, this ruling represents not a victory for consumer clarity, but a textbook example of a powerful industry using the courts to stifle its competition.

Laura Hellwig, managing director of Viva!, said: “This is the dairy industry doing what the meat industry has been doing for years – using lobbying, legal challenges and political pressure to hamstring the plant-based sector, not because consumers are confused but because they’re not. People know exactly what oat milk is. They’re choosing it in their millions and that is precisely what Big Dairy is afraid of.”

The ruling comes during a challenging period for the dairy industry, which is battling low prices offered by milk processors and rising production costs, and while both the European Parliament and the European Commission are discussing a potential ban on the use of ‘meaty’ names for plant-based alternatives – a move widely seen as a gift to meat industry lobbyists. A survey of 20,000 consumers by Radar Panel found that the overwhelming majority understand that a ‘vegetarian sausage’ contains no meat, and more than two-thirds actively oppose restrictions on such labelling. The public, Viva! says, seems to be ahead of the regulators.

The irony in Wednesday’s ruling is hard to miss. ‘Peanut butter’, ‘coconut milk’ and ‘coconut cream’ remain perfectly legal despite containing not a drop of dairy, which poses the question: why is ‘oat milk’ considered so confusing? The answer, Viva! argues, has nothing to do with clarity and everything to do with competition. The organisation agrees with comments made by Oatly’s general manager for the UK and Ireland, Bryan Carroll, who said that the decision creates “unnecessary confusion and an uneven playing field for plant-based products that solely benefits Big Dairy”.

The plant-based sector is not a fringe movement, according to Viva! – it is a rapidly growing, consumer-led shift away from products linked to climate breakdown and widespread animal suffering. The ruling has broader implications beyond Oatly, with legal experts warning that brands using terms such as ‘plant-based cheese’ or ‘soy yoghurt’ now face heightened legal risk in the UK market. The effect is a crackdown on accessible, consumer-friendly language for products that are better for animals and for the planet.

Hellwig added: “Let’s be absolutely clear about what the dairy industry is. It is an industry that forcibly impregnates cows, commonly takes their calves away within hours of birth and then slaughters those animals when their milk production declines. It is an industry responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions, vast water use and widespread environmental damage. And it is an industry that, rather than answer for any of this, has chosen to spend its energy trying to make humane, sustainable alternatives a less obvious choice by blocking the use of familiar terms. Dairy UK’s ‘delight’ at this ruling is a measure of how threatened the industry truly is.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• Viva! is a registered charity (number 1037486) and the UK’s leading vegan campaigning organisation
• For assets and further information, including access to expert Viva! spokespeople, contact Rachael Simpson-Jones, PR Manager at Viva! – rachael@viva.org.uk