Cost of living: Vegan Nottingham student designs oat milk maker - BBC

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By Jennifer Harby

BBC News

A vegan student has designed a product that creates oat milk in minutes which, she hopes, will save people money.

Deeya Halai, 22, who became a vegan during the Covid lockdown, is a product design student at Nottingham Trent University.

She designed a container that blends, filters, stores and pours oat milk.

She said: "There's nothing out there like this and the easier something is to do, the more chance that people are going to do it."

She believes her carton - which she has called Oatilicious - will save people around £2.20 per carton on buying the milk in shops.

"Everything is becoming so much more expensive due to the cost of living crisis," she said.

"The traditional way to make oat milk uses a cloth that you have to squeeze out into a different container and it's all quite messy. You have to use another container to keep it in too.

"But my design allows people to do away with that lengthy process and makes it quick, convenient and simple."

The product functions by blending oats and water in the container, while a device similar to a coffee filter is used to compress the oats.

The bottom of the container is then removed, allowing the pulp to be extracted and the remaining liquid to be chilled in the fridge.

The container is reusable and Ms Halai said it was easy to clean.

It also contains a recipe booklet with tips on how to use the leftover pulp.

"It feels like quite an achievement to see it all come together; there have been so many developments, sketches, and models," she added.

The design is due to go on public exhibition for the university's Art and Design Student Showcase which runs until 2 June.

Joseph Stewart, senior lecturer in product design at the university, said: "Deeya has shown how simple design thinking can improve people's lives.

"By allowing people to make their own oat milk at home with a simple process, people could save considerable money and reduce the amount of oat milk cartons being recycled or sent to landfill."