Laura Hindson is supervising production of plant-based milk at a small factory in Melbourne’s south-east.
The white liquid is made from tiger nuts, (not actually nuts but a root vegetable), each one the size of a chickpea.
The name tiger nut derives from its appearance. The dried brown items look a little like nuts and have stripes a bit like tiger stripes.
Tiger nuts at the factory, ready for processing. Source: SBS / Scott Cardwell
Hindson‘s factory can produce up to 40 thousand litres of tiger nut milk per day. Most of that is destined for cafes and specialty outlets Australia-wide.
“The flavour is quite unique,” said Hindson, 39. “It’s very creamy, very smooth, and it’s slightly sweet ever so slightly nutty.”
Tiger nut milk is among a growing number of plant-based alternatives sold in Australia, such as oat, almond and soy milk.
Why demand for non-dairy milk is growing
Australia’s non-dairy milk market is worth more than $600 million annually and is growing rapidly, in line with a global trend that is projected to reach $150 billion by 2030.
Around 40 per cent of all Australian households now have plant-based milk in the fridge, with people increasingly switching from dairy for health, environmental, and ethical reasons.
Laura Hindson holding unprocessed tiger nuts. Source: SBS / Scott Cardwell
“Tiger nuts are a versatile ingredient to make plant-based milk,” Hindson said scooping a handful of dried nuts from a white bag.
“They are high in fibre and a good source of plant-based iron, plus vitamins including C, E, and minerals like magnesium and potassium.
“So, they’re quite a nutritious food source.”
Tiger nuts as food
Tiger nuts have been around for centuries. Ancient Egyptian tombs were found to contain tiger nuts, also known as chufa nuts, earth almonds and earthnuts.
Tiger nuts are actually tubers, or the bulbous root of a stem. They grow underground and provide nutrients to a grass-like plant called yellow nutsedge commonly found in Africa and Spain.
Women grow tiger nuts in Burkina Faso. Source: Supplied / Laura Hindson
Tiger nuts are also a food staple in West Africa including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
And that is where Hindson sources her raw materials, importing 60 tonnes in 2024, the entire harvest of a Burkina Faso growers’ group.
“We get our tiger nuts from a female farming collective called Mousso Faso which means ‘land of the wholehearted woman’,” said Hindson.
Mousso Faso was set up in 2017 in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou.
It aims to help tiger nut farming families improve their lives.
Bagging tiger nuts in Burkina Faso. Source: Supplied / Laura Hindson
By buying the tiger nut harvest at fair prices, Hindson’s startup — Madame Tiger — has changed the lives of more than 600 women and their families in Burkina Faso.
“When we first met these women, they had been badly mistreated and the pay that they were getting per kilo of tiger nuts was really not okay,” Hindson said.
“So, we are paying about three to four times what they were offered previously for their tiger nuts.”
Easing the burden of poverty
Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. Of almost 14 million inhabitants, only 22 per cent are literate, and life expectancy is below 62 years old.
Farming tiger nuts is exhausting, hard work, mostly carried out by women who are vulnerable to financial abuse.
“In the past, exploitation has not only happened with tiger nuts, but also with sugar, with coffee, with cocoa,” said Maria Marquez, who is part of the Mousso Faso collective.
Marquez is also a volunteer with CIM Burkina, a non-profit based in Spain that focuses on the development of women and children.
“Women of Burkina Faso have often fallen prey to scams and to unfair commercial relations, and that has been real pain and a real hurt for those families,” she said.
“So, building ethical trade relationships helps these women to improve their daily lives by earning an income and that helps to keep their children in school,” said Marquez.
“So, it is very, very important for them.”
Terror threats rising
However, secure income is not the only concern for these women. Last year Burkina Faso topped The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) Global Terrorism Index.
“In 2024, Burkina Faso reported 1,532 terror-related deaths, and that is about one-quarter of all terror-linked deaths globally,” said IEP founder and executive chairman Steve Killelea.
“The rise in terrorism and death has been quite astronomical. And it is part of a broader conflict raging through the Sahel,” he said.
“In 2019, the number of deaths linked to terrorism [in the Sahel] was only 10 per cent of what it is now. And last year, [the Sahel] accounted for more than half of of all terrorist deaths globally.”
On a single day in August 2024, jihadists affiliated with al Qaeda killed hundreds of civilians in Burkina Faso, in a town two hours from Ouagadougou.
“There is increasing violence with armed groups attacking and civilians dying,” said Marquez.
“Overall, the situation in the country is very, very hard.
“It is why this tiger nut project with Madame Tiger helps women. They hold a fair job and earn a fair income that helps to improve their lives.”
Business giving back
Hindson is a former food marketing executive who was first introduced to tiger nuts by a relative from Mali. She quickly saw a business opportunity.
“In our first year in 2020, we bought six tonnes of tiger nuts. In the next year we bought seven tonnes, then 15 tonnes, then 30 tonnes, and then last year’s harvest was 60 tonnes,” she said.
“So, we now buy 10 times the volume we bought in 2020.”
However, she said developing the production process was slow and took several years.
Dan Hindson and Laura at the Melbourne factory. Source: SBS / Scott Cardwell
“We started with a recipe on the kitchen bench and scaled that up to produce tiger nut milk in a factory,” she said.
“First, we wash the tiger nuts, then we soak them to soften them and then we mill them with water and then we filter out any fibre that is left in the milk and then we blend it with the other ingredients and bottle it.”
Overcoming challenges
Hindson now employs her brother Daniel, 35, full time.
“Setting up a business where you work with international growers and you’re buying products straight from the farms in West Africa certainly has its challenges,” she said.
“We have had some really hard days and so it has been amazing to have someone as supportive as my brother working alongside me.
However, she said the rewards due to the impact the business has achieved far outweigh the challenges.
“This year, the women of Mousso Faso are building sorting shelters so that they’re not as exposed to the sun, they’ve built wells and better facilities for washing the tiger nuts.
“And they built a warehouse and pipelines as well. So, it has made a really big impact on the lives of women and the farmers.”
Laura Hindson with a carton of tiger nut milk. Source: SBS / Scott Cardwell
Tiger nut milk sales are rising in Australia and Hindson hopes to expand steadily to meet growing global demand.
“We are very proud to have worked with Mousso Faso for five years and seen them grow steadily,” she said.
“And we are also really proud to produce something that people in Australia are loving.
“So, we hope soon to share that with the world.”
