UK plant-based food and beverage brand Rude Health has introduced a new chilled soya drink, fortified with calcium.

According to the brand, the launch marks a first for the market as it introduces a fortified soya drink with a ‘completely clean’ ingredients deck.

It is made with just four ingredients: spring water, soya beans, calcium carbonate and sea salt. Rude Health said it offers a ‘clean and creamy’ texture with a similar flavour and nutritional value to cow’s milk. It also offers versatility, suitable for use in tea, coffee, smoothies, cereals and baking.

Sam Maguire, head of marketing at Rude Health, said: “We have had an increasing number of requests from people to…make a soya drink with calcium, so we decided to look into developing this drink to sit alongside our other calcium fortified drinks. There are a large number of people who choose soya but currently there are no options that are ‘clean deck’ products fortified with calcium, so we set out to fill that gap.”

Like the rest of Rude Health’s range, the drink is ‘non-UPF’ and contains no artificial thickeners, additives or added sugar. It is also gluten-free and high in protein.

Bertel Haugen, head of innovation and sustainability at Rude Health, commented: “Soya is one of the original plant-based milk alternatives, and while it might seem like others are trendier, soya has a lot going for it. It’s naturally high in protein and low in sugar, and soya is a great crop to grow because it helps build fertility into the soil.”

The new calcium-fortified soya drink joins the rest of the brand’s chilled range, which includes oat, almond and coconut drinks. It will be rolling out nationwide from February at an RRP of £2.30 per 1 litre carton, with early listings confirmed with Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco.