Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman and Former Starbucks CEO Invest in Swedish Vegan Milk Company – Oatly

15 July 2020

Swedish Oat milk brand, Oatly has secured an investment of a whopping $200 mn (Rs. 1500 crores +) from a cohort of investors led by private equity firm, Blackstone Growth (BXG). The list includes the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman, rapper Jay-Z’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, former chairman and chief executive of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, Orkila Capital and Rabo Bank’s investment arm, Rabo Corporate Investments.

This brings the current business evaluation of Oatly to $2 billion with the above-mentioned group of investors owning a close to 10% stake in the company, as seen on Wall Street Journal.

The founding brothers Rickard and Björn Öste, who founded Oatly in the city of Malmö in the 1990s, are set to put forth additional investments in the funding round.

Oatly products started with oat milk, and have now expanded their range to include ice creams and yogurts. They are currently available at 50,000 locations, spread across 20 countries and have regional offices in New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Shanghai and Hong Kong. With sales worth $200 million in 2019, they aim to double that by 2021.

With the current investment, they are looking to expand all over Europe, USA and Asia.

Oatly has been working very hard to meet the ever-increasing demand from its  growing consumer base and may look at a second factory, the first one having opened in 2018. Reports are rife that they could even go public in a couple years following the very successful example of Beyond Meat, which went public in May 2019. They are a shining example of changing the way we eat food globally, for the better!

Investors, around the world are looking at the plant-based industry more than ever before and it just feels like the beginning. According to techcrunch.com, one investor has called the coming tidal wave of innovation around changing food production the biggest entrepreneurial opportunity in a generation!

The current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oatly, Toni Petersson, is very hopeful about the necessary and urgent shift to sustainable food systems. He said:
 

“Leaders in asset management like Blackstone play an essential role in order to create real sustainable change. It is my belief that capital has to turn green and do so for the right reasons. Since we re-launched our brand in 2013, our focus has been to positively impact society by enabling people to change their lives with better, more environmentally responsible food choices, and in so doing, re-shape the food system to better contribute to the future of the planet.”

- Toni Petersson, CEO, Oatly

The fact that oat milk is an alternative to animal milk automatically makes it a more eco-friendly and kinder option due to the high carbon and water footprint of animal agriculture. But it’s gaining more popularity with eco-conscious people, irrespective of them being vegan or not, because it requires much less water than almond milk in its production. Additionally it has a thick and creamy consistency.  So it scores perfectly on the health, taste, sustainability and animal rights parameters.
Reportedly, after them starting to include a carbon footprint label on their products,  other companies have followed suit. In fact, Unilever plans to do the same on their wide range of 70,000+ products!

This year we anticipate the launch of  atleast 3 oat milk brands. The appetite for plant based foods in India is huge and we hope that day isn’t far when all mainstream QSRs and restaurants start including these plant milks in their regular menus.

Read: Nestle Plans To Build New Plant-based Food Facility in China Under CHF 100 Million Investment Plan
Read More: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Announces $100 Million Investment in Plant-Based Industry
Even More: Indian Plant-Based Egg Company Evo Foods gets Angel Investment