Estonian entrepreneurs invested over €13 million into the project, while the oat-based drink should hit store shelves in Estonia within the next fortnight, ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK) reported Tuesday.

A total of 15 people currently work at the oat milk production plant in Türi, mostly people who have been recruited locally.

Katre Kõvask, CEO of Yook Production, the company behind the product, told Ak: "Our annual maximum production volume will come to 20 million liters, and we will start selling in Estonia, moving step by step towards Latvia and Lithuania."

"Naturally, the broader plan is to find larger export markets, all over the world, for example in Asia, the Gulf countries, Western Europe and elsewhere," she continued.

"We are sourcing the raw materials from much closer to home – we buy from Tartu Mill – while some also derive from southern Finland, as unfortunately, it is not yet viable to buy gluten-free oats in the Baltic states."

"So that is a call to action to farmers – please, start cultivating them, and we will start buying," Kõvask added.

The shelves at regional supermarket retailing cooperative Järva Tarbijate Uhistu's largest store is full of vegan beverage products, AK reported.

These include dozens of different flavored oat drinks from five different suppliers.

Paide Maksimarket manager Eve Kuldre told AK that since oat milk is a niche product and buyers are increasingly price sensitive, it cannot influence the dairy milk market significantly.

Sales have dropped slightly, she added, compared with last year, mainly as buyers are more aware of their consumers.

Estonian people however tend to prefer domestic production, she said. "We hope that the customer will buy Estonian, because it is clear that domestic production is preferred," Kuldre said.

"We have worked a lot on our product development and flavor ranges. We really hope that we will be able to delight consumers near and far with products which are world-class," Katre Kõvask told AK.

The oat-based beverage currently comes in three different flavors, with the intention being to expand these.

Oat milk is a comparatively recent development, having first been produced in the 1990s by Swedish scientist Rickard Öste.

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