Ayres Bakery

The UK’s rap landlord, Giggs, has today announced this year’s most unexpected collaboration – Custard by Giggs. In partnership with Oatly, the world’s original and largest oat drink company, the rapper has launched limited edition dairy-free cake and custard kits, featuring custom tableware alongside Oatly Vanilla Custard. Giggs will be dishing up the kits to fans tomorrow (Wednesday 20th November) from 1pm at Ayres Bakery, near his hometown of Peckham. Giggs, who is lactose intolerant, approached the Swedish oat drink company to share his frustration with the lack of shelf space given to dairy-free food alternatives, after he struggled to find his favourite, Oatly Vanilla Custard, in store. As a vocal lover of cake and custard, the rapper wanted to use his personal story to raise awareness of lactose intolerance, an issue that affects five million Brits*, and show that those with dairy intolerances or allergies shouldn’t have to sacrifice their favourite desserts. “I grew up on cake and custard, but when my lactose intolerance kicked in when I was around 8 years old and started making me sick, the dessert I loved had to leave my life”. said Giggs. “When I found out my son was lactose intolerant too, we used to go all over the place looking for dairy-free alternatives so he wouldn’t miss out. There’s not a lot of options out there, but one day we found Oatly’s Vanilla Custard, and it tasted banging. Not enough people know about it, so I reached out to Oatly, and here we are a few months later...” However, despite the category being projected to nearly double by 2029**, only a select number of retailers in the UK choose to stock Oatly Vanilla Custard. “I even sent my Mum on quests trying to hunt it down!”, Giggs added. The launch comes as research reveals Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities in the UK are more than twice as likely than White groups to say they have lactose intolerance.*** When asked how this affects them, two thirds (67%) said they miss out on their favourite desserts and over half (52%) said they miss out on other food experiences due to lack of alternatives. Access to dairy-free foods is a key barrier, with two thirds (68%) struggling to find alternatives in supermarkets, shops or restaurants. Bryan Carroll, General Manager at Oatly UK&I said, “When Giggs messaged us at the start of the year expressing his love for our Vanilla Custard, we knew this could lead to great things. Together we are determined to give people choice beyond dairy – for anyone who has to or is opting to remove it from their diet. With more than 5 million people suffering some form of lactose intolerance, it’s actually mad that the default is still so often dairy and nothing else. This collaboration aims to encourage retailers to think outside the dairy box – there's a whole big dairy-free world out there...and it’s delicious.” The limited-edition cake and custard kits - including custom plates, tableware and of course, Oatly’s Vanilla Custard - will be handed out by Giggs at Ayres Bakery in Nunhead tomorrow (Wednesday 20th November) with a few select kits also available on Oatly.com/Giggs. To bring the collaboration to life, a series of Custard by Giggs films starring the rapper, directed and co-created by Kelvin Jones, will be rolling out across social media over the next month. The collaboration also marks the launch of Oatly’s new Custard Finder, a tool designed to help those seeking dairy-free options to easily locate alternatives. Users simply need to zoom into their location on the map and the tool will show the nearest stocking retailer. Oatly Vanilla Custard is also available online via Ocado and Tesco (whilst stocks last). More details on the campaign can be found here and Oatly’s Custard Finder is available to view here.