Animal milk is a food that accompanies human beings since the beginning of livestock farming. Although its consumption is currently in question due to the possible health problems it causes in some individuals, its current and historical nutritional value is unquestionable.
In this article we will comment on which are the 10 best milk brands in SpainThis is the best way for you as a consumer to get the best dairy product available.
Milk consumption
The consumption of milk from non-human animals is an ancient practice. It makes sense that a food as nutritious as the one that sustains mammalian offspring during their early stages of growth has benefits for us as well.
So much so, that a considerable portion of the human population has genetic adaptations that allow them to consume milk past the natural age at which we should consume it. People without these adaptations have more or less serious difficulties and consequences when consuming dairy products.
This difficulty in consumption is due to that with age, we are losing the ability to metabolize lactose correctly, a typical sugar in milk. This causes our intestinal bacteria, some of which are capable of feeding on lactose, to cause us some symptoms such as bloating, gas or diarrhoea.
This partly explains the recent market in milk options, beyond skimmed and semi-skimmed, which are no longer obtained from other animals (such as goats, whose milk can also be consumed and is marketed to a lesser extent than cow’s milk) but also from plants such as soya or rice.
Even so, in this article only we will talk about the best brands of cow’s milk, in particular their whole milk products.
The 10 best milk brands in Spain
We’ll talk about these marks based on analyses carried out by the OCU (Consumers and Users Organisation) in Spain over forty brands of cow’s milk.
This analysis was carried out by studying the most representative brands with respect to consumption, considering both national and regional brands. The objective of the study was to determine and compare the quality of milk from different brands, using a battery of laboratory analysis to observe parameters such as composition and hygienic quality.
All the brands in this list are considered by the OCU as brands that offer a good quality product. Still, there are some of them that blunt above the others.
1. Land of Flavor
Milk Flavored Earth rose from the analysis as the best milk among the more than 40 brands analysed. This milk comes from Castilla y León, a region of Spain that prides itself on the quality of its agricultural products.
This brand’s marketing strategy is based on the high quality of its products, which is unmistakably demonstrated by the OCU analysis.
2. Condis
The Condis supermarkets, founded by the late Ramón Condal Escudé, president of the Real Club Deportivo Español between 2011 and 2012made their appearance in Catalonia.
Condis milk surprises, because despite being a “white brand” manages to be placed in the top four of the ranking, obtaining the title by the OCU of “master purchase”.
3. Milsani (Aldi)
The Aldi supermarket brand has its origin in Germany, but its high quality products and its great variety in terms of product range, especially those organichas made them win a little piece of the heart of many Spaniards.
Their milk is also considered, like Condis milk, as a master purchase, being one of the best milks analysed in the OCU study.
4. The Cowgirl
La Vaquera is also one of the top 4 brands. of the OCU analysis of the best milks in Spain.
It is a Galician production and distribution brand, economic and packaged by the Celta milk company.
5. Landowner
Mercadona, a ubiquitous supermarket of Valencian origin, has managed to place its Hacendado white brand milk as one of the best in Spain. While it fell a little short in the whole milk category, Hacendado semi-skimmed milk has come to be classified as the best category at State level. according to some analysis.
Its low prices and high quality dairy make Hacendado one of the best milk for all pockets.
6. Llet Nostra
Llet Nostra is a Catalan milk brand, whose strategy also lies in trusting its products. It arose in 2003, the result of an association between more than 200 farmers who decided to organise a product distribution platform..
Its high production standards, as well as its proximity consumption model, make it a good milk brand if you also want to promote initiatives from companies that reduce their carbon footprint.
7. Celtic Milk
Leche Celta is a Galician dairy brand, with factories in various provinces in northern Spain and also in Portugal. They are proud of their 2L milk containers (they were pioneers in Spain with this format), as well as the quality of their product.
Currently have the AENOR certificate of animal welfarewhich guarantees acceptable standards of treatment and wholesomeness on dairy farms.
8. Central Lechera Asturiana
This brand appeared in Asturias in 1968 with the idea of being a large-scale dairy producer. It is a dairy giant of great antiquity in Spain, whose products are also of good quality.
Its current emphasis is on the pride of its traditional livestock productionwith feeding of the cows through pasture.
9. Paschal
Brand that appeared shortly after Central Lechera Asturiana, in 1969. They are also AENOR certified for animal welfare, which is currently the key point of their advertising campaign.
After all, if the cows give milk and we treat them well, it is logical that we get better quality dairy.
10. Carrefour
And our list ends with another dairy white label, on this occasion Carrefour milk.
It is surprising how many white label products are so well placed in a dairy quality ranking, but many times we let ourselves be carried away by the renown of the brands without really knowing if their products are as good as they indicate us.
Bibliographic references
- OCU report on the milk quality of Spanish whole milk (2014). Extracted from https://www.ocu.org/leche
- Thorning, T. K., Raben, A., Tholstrup, T., Soedamah-Muthu, S. S., Givens, I., & Astrup, A. (2016). Milk and dairy products: good or bad for human health? An assessment of the totality of scientific evidence. Food & nutrition research, 60.