Oak (flavoured milk) facts for kids
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| Type | Flavoured milk |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Lactalis |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Region of origin | New South Wales |
| Introduced | 1967 |
| Flavour |
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| Variants | Full cream, light and strong flavours |
Oak (which is written as OAK) is a super popular brand of flavoured milk from Australia! It's known for its delicious milk drinks that come in many different tastes. A big French company called Lactalis owns Oak now. Oak first started making milk in 1967 in a place called New South Wales, Australia. Over the years, it became available in many other parts of Australia too, like Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria.
Contents
Discovering Oak Flavours
Oak flavoured milk comes in lots of yummy flavours. Some of the main ones you can almost always find are:
- Chocolate
- Strawberry
- Banana
- Vanilla Malt
- Iced Coffee
Oak also loves to team up with other companies to make special, limited-edition flavours. For example, they've worked with Allen's (a lolly company) and Nestlé to create milk that tastes like popular sweets. Some of these have included:
- Allen's Jaffas
- Allen's Red Skins
- Allen's Chokito
- Allen's Pineapples
- Nestle Peppermint Crisp
- Allen's Fantales
Over time, Oak has also released other special flavours that were only around for a short while, such as:
- Cookies & Cream
- Strong Iced Coffee
- Mocha
- Cinnamon Donut (sometimes found only at certain supermarkets like Woolworths)
Oak has even made special flavours just for 7-Eleven stores, like:
- Choc Peanut Butter
- Caramel Coffee
- Blue Heaven
- Lime Spider
- Caramel Popcorn
- Rocky Road
- Cola Spider
Sometimes, Oak has fun by showing off ideas for flavours they might never actually make, like "Vegan Carob." They also tried out "Choc Hazelnut" and "Vanilla Crumble" as possible new flavours for 7-Eleven, but "Blue Heaven" won the vote!
Besides drinks, Oak has also been sold as a frozen chocolate soft serve ice cream. You can also find Oak milk in long-life cartons, which means it can be stored for a long time without needing to be in the fridge until opened.
Special Oak Drinks
Oak has created some unique drink ranges over the years.
- The Max range started in 2013 with flavours like Cool Choc Mint and Molten Caramel.
- Oak Thick drinks were released in 2017. These drinks get thicker after you shake them, making them feel like a thick-shake! Flavours included Death by Chocolate and Salted Caramel.
- Oak mini shake came out in 2019. These are smaller drinks with less sugar, perfect for a quick treat.
- Oak Plus was launched in 2017. This is a special flavoured milk drink with extra protein, designed to help athletes recover after sports. It comes in flavours like vanilla and chocolate.
In the past, the Oak brand also made other dairy foods, such as ice cream, cottage cheese, butter, and custard.
Nutrition Facts
The amount of energy and nutrients in Oak milk can change depending on the flavour. However, many of the main flavours like chocolate, strawberry, and iced coffee are quite similar.
For example, Oak Max and Light Chocolate drinks have about 25% fewer calories and half the fat compared to regular chocolate milk. On the other hand, Egg Nog flavour has more energy and fat. Oak Plus, the sports drink, has about 30 grams more protein.
Here's a quick look at the nutrition for Oak chocolate milk:
| Chocolate Milk | Per 300ml Serve | Per 100ml |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1128kJ | 376kJ |
| Protein | 9.9g | 3.5g |
| Fat | 10.8g | 3.4g |
| – Saturated | 6.6g | 2.2g |
| Carbohydrate | 33.0g | 11.0g |
| – Sugars | 31.8g | 10.6g |
| Sodium | 150 mg | 50 mg |
| Calcium (%RDI*) | 345 mg (43%RDI*) | 115 mg |
Who Owns Oak?
Since 2019, the Oak brand has been fully owned by Lactalis. Lactalis is a huge French company that makes dairy and food products all over the world. Before Lactalis, Oak was owned by another company called Parmalat.
Oak's Sports Sponsorships
Sponsorship is when a company gives money or support to a sports team or event. In return, the team or event promotes the company's brand.
Oak was the main sponsor for the National Rugby League team, the Penrith Panthers, from 2012 all the way until 2024. They have also sponsored other sports teams in the past, including:
- The Newcastle Jets (a soccer team)
- The Newcastle Knights (another rugby league team)
- The Melbourne Stars (a cricket team)
- The Port Adelaide Football Club (an Australian Rules Football team)
Oak Milk Bars
In the past, there were several special shops called Oak-branded milk bars. These were like small cafes or diners that sold milk, snacks, and other treats. They were mostly found in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales, Australia.
Some of these old milk bars were located in places like Newcastle, Hexham, and Peats Ridge. They were often found along the main roads north of Sydney.
Today, the Oak Milk Bar at Freemans Waterhole is still open and running! A new Oak Milk Bar also opened in Rutherford in September 2020.
