🦌 Reindeer

The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is a deer of the tundra and taiga that has been kept as a domestic animal in northern Europe for centuries. Today reindeer herding is mainly about meat: officially, Norway had 217,152 reindeer on 31 March 2025, Sweden 227,190 in 2023, and Finland 179,509 at the end of the 2024–2025 herding year.

Reindeer milk is one of the most concentrated milks of any domestic animal: it is only about 68% water. According to FAO, 100 g contains on average 16.1 g of fat (from 10 to 21.5 g), 10.4 g of protein, just 2.9 g of lactose and 196 kcal, so in thickness it is compared to cream. Yields are small: in a Norwegian study a female reindeer gave about 983 g a day at peak, and about 99.5 kg over 24–26 weeks of lactation.

Milking reindeer is an old Sámi tradition. As early as the mid-16th century, reindeer in Sweden were used for transport and milked, and in the 18th century reindeer cheese was a valuable commodity traded along the Norwegian coast. Early milk was drunk, summer milk was made into cheese, and late milk was churned into butter. In the 1920s milking almost stopped in Sweden, and in Norway, according to the encyclopedia Store norske leksikon, it has practically disappeared today: herders produce mainly meat and hides.

Why it matters to you. Reindeer milk is not found in ordinary retail. FAO writes of new interest in it from gourmets and suggests that such protein-rich milk might suit athletes, but this has not been tested. It is no substitute for cow's milk in case of allergy: about 80% of its protein is casein, as in cow's milk, and cross-reaction with cow's milk protein has been tested in only one study.