“Our founders just figured, OK, if the vast majority of the world population is intolerant to milk, why don’t we make something that is actually designed for human beings, not baby cows?” Oatly CEO Toni Petersson told the media.
I still remember the day I had to go to the toilet after drinking cow’s milk. Little did I know I had lactose intolerance, that is until I switched to Oatly. For nearly three decades, the Swedish Oat milk brand has continued to deliver one of the best oat milks in the world. What makes Oatly stand out is its rich and smooth texture, which resembles whole cow’s milk. Indeed, we have seen tremendous growth in the past year with a stunning $195.1 million in revenue, a 4.9% increase compared to the prior year.
The transition to a plant-based diet has been put on the table in recent years with the benefit of reducing carbon footprint and improving health—plant-based products, on average, result in lower land use, energy use, water use and climate impact. While cow’s milk, on average, produces 1.39kg of greenhouse gases per litre, Oatly only produces 0.682 kg CO2e/L. Oatly also recognised that unhealthy diets are one of the leading reasons for poor health globally, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Switching our diets to be more plant-based can help the planet and reduce our body’s burden.
Sustainability is one of Oatly’s business values; they implemented different acts to reduce the carbon footprint. One of the highlights in 2022 was the setup of 3 new factories in Asia and North America. Transportation is one of the highest contributors to food production emissions. By building new factories, products will no longer have to travel across the ocean from Europe to Asia, and consumers worldwide can still enjoy the stunning Oatly milk, reducing their carbon footprint. Oatly committed to no air freight to minimise the impact of oversized air freight from one-off priority shipments. They also switched to a lower-impact mode of transportation, from diesel trucks to trains or renewable vehicles. These initiatives have reduced scope 3 carbon emission intensity from 0.597 kg CO2e/ litre to 0.543 kg CO2e/litre.
Regarding supply chain, Oatly developed a guide called the Future Agriculture Renovation Movement (FARM), outlining their vision for a more restorative and regenerative future food system that will guide their partnership with oat suppliers and farmers. This includes the advocacy of reducing net GHG emissions in agriculture emissions, improving ecosystem functionality by increasing biodiversity, improving water and soil qualities, and supporting the farmers. These initiatives have been carried out in different parts of the world with various organisations and have seen significant success.
Oatly continues to commit to its 2029 sustainable, ambitious goals to improve our planetary and human wellbeing.
By 2029, Oatly’s food system will give back to nature and the communities where they source by restoring carbon, improving biodiversity, and boosting farmer’s income.
By 2029, Oatly will reduce the climate footprint per litre by 70% and align with the 1.5-degree Celsius climate pathway.
By 2029, all the factories that produce Oatly’s products will meet “Future Factory” criteria, which are defined in line with sustainable, efficient, safe, and inclusive principles.
By 2029, they will mainstream plant-based diets by leading a shift from dairy, with a milestone to shift 2.9 billion litres from dairy to Oatly by 2025, saving up to 2.5 million tonnes of CO2e.
Oat milk has seen remarkable growth in the past years: more coffee shops, including UCL coffee shops, have advocated the consumption of plant-based oat milk. I also found that Oatly has produced yoghurt and other “dairy” products in the supermarket. This makes me wonder how much Oatly can achieve in 2024 and the long-term future.
Author: Thomas Chan
Sources:
Comments