Oatly

Oatly is a food brand from Sweden that produces alternatives to dairy products from oats.[1][2] Oatly was formed in the 1990s using research from Lund University.[3][4][5] Oatly has headquarters in Malmö and a production and development center in Landskrona.[6][7][8][9][10]

Oatly AB
Product typeDairy alternatives
CountrySweden
Introduced1990s
MarketsInternational
Websitewww.oatly.com/int/

Ownership

Shelves of Oatly products
Oatly Salty Caramel Hazelnut vegan ice cream

Oatly is owned by The Blackstone Group (7%), Verlinvest, China Resources, Industrifonden, Östersjöstiftelsen, the founders of the company and the employees.[11][12][13]

In 2020 Oatly's sale of a $200-million USD stake to investors including the Blackstone Group, which has financed companies driving extensive deforestation in the Amazon, as well as driving road development into the depths of the jungle for export of foodstuffs,[14][15] angered consumers and led to a backlash against the company.[16]

Products

Oatly has a range of products including: oat milk, ice cream, cold coffee, yoghurt substitutes, cooking cream, spread and custard.[17][18][19]

In 2018 the company was publicly criticised for supporting a local pig farm to which it sold the residue of its manufacturing process. The company said it would "re-visit the issue."[20]

Advertising

The Swedish dairy company Arla produced a series of adverts to discourage people from buying vegan alternatives to cow's milk and used a fake brand 'Pjölk' which was similar to Oatly. In response Oatly trademarked the fictitious brands Pjölk, Brölk, Sölk, and Trölk and began using them on their packaging.[3]

The Swedish dairy lobby LRF Mjölk successfully sued Oatly for using the phrase "Milk, but made for humans" for £100,000. In response to the lawsuit, Oatly published the text of the lawsuit leading to an alleged 45% increase in Oatly's sales in Sweden.

In 2018 Oatly spent £700,000 on advertising in the UK on All4 and on billboards in train stations in Brixton, Kings Cross, Oxford Circus, and Shoreditch using the "Milk, but made for humans" slogan banned in Sweden.[3]

The company advertised during Super Bowl LV. The commercial, called "Wow, No Cow", featured CEO Toni Petersson singing a jingle in an oat field. It used an ad aired in Sweden in 2014, which got banned for using the phrase "Milk, but made for humans".[21][22]

References

  1. "Dairy-free Oatly labels to include climate footprint figure to encourage milk swap". The Drum. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  2. "Oatly pushes coffee drinkers away from dairy with 'Ditch Milk' creative". The Drum. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  3. Webber, Jemima (10 December 2019). "Why Sweden Is Terrified of Oat Milk". LIVEKINDLY. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  4. Goldberg, Jacob. "Sweden's 'Milk War' is getting udderly vicious". The Outline. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  5. Oat Milk Is Coming To Your Town, retrieved 3 January 2020
  6. Sugar, Rachel (14 August 2019). "Oatly and the quest for the perfect alt-milk". Vox. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  7. dairyreporter.com. "Oatly has sights set on great march into China". dairyreporter.com. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  8. "Oatly: "We're Seeing a Post Milk Generation Taking Shape"". vegconomist - the vegan business magazine. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  9. "Sweden Is Waging a War on Oat Milk". InsideHook. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  10. "Oatly ice cream: Swedish plant-milk company launches UK offering". Verdict Retail. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  11. Bakst, Danny. "I've tried a lot of popular oat-milk brands out there — here's why I think Oatly is the best". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  12. Koenigs, Mike (12 September 2019). "How the Co-Founder of Oatly Is Shaking Up the Beverage Industry". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  13. Chung, Ben Dummett, Miriam Gottfried and Juliet (14 July 2020). "Oat-Milk Company Oatly Draws Investment From Blackstone-Led Group Including Oprah". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 6 September 2020 via www.wsj.com.
  14. Grim, Ryan. "A Top Financier of Trump and McConnell Is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation". The Intercept. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  15. "Activists sour on Oatly vegan milk after stake sold to Trump-linked Blackstone". the Guardian. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  16. Nagarajan, Shalini. "Oatly vegan milk faces activist anger after Trump-supporting billionaire Schwarzman's Blackstone acquired a stake". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  17. "Oatly reveals plans to open factory in the UK to meet rapidly growing demand". www.veganfoodandliving.com. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  18. "Oatly's Path to Alt-Milk World Domination Starts in New Jersey". Bloomberg Businessweek. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  19. "Products | Oatly | the Original Oat Drink Company". www.oatly.com. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  20. Chiorando, Maria. "Plant Based Brand Oatly Addresses Controversy Over Selling Oat Residue To Pig Farm". Vegan News, Plant Based Living, Food, Health & more. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  21. Lundstrom, Kathryn (7 February 2021). "Oatly's CEO Wrote That Song in the Brand's First Super Bowl Ad". Adweek. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  22. "See Oatly bring a 2014 ad banned in Sweden to the U.S. for its Super Bowl debut". Adage. 7 February 2021.
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