By Mathilda Gustaf
31 January 2024
Oat milk has become a staple in households across the world in just over a couple decades, causing major product shortages due to its popular and subsequent high demand. Oatly, one of the leading plant-based milk companies in the world, has made a name for itself, aiming to minimise environmental impact, while still providing sufficient nutritional value to its consumers. Although oat milk is branded as more environmentally sustainable than regular cow’s milk, Oatly is facing backlash in light of recent discoveries regarding the integrity of their mission.
The proliferation of alternative milks has raised questions as to which of them is more environmentally sustainable. Oat milk is lauded for its creamy texture and pleasant taste, and seeing as oats can be grown almost anywhere, is good for soil regeneration, and not to mention the crop has the “lowest overall carbon footprint” than any other milk on the market, it is considered ultimately superior (Goto & Goto, 2021).
Although some surmise that oat milk has been consumed for centuries, it was only first commercialised in the 90’s by Rickard Öste, inventor and founder of Oatley. The company might be most known for its mission to fight climate change, but it was not actually branded as a climate company until 2013. This was when Oatley started becoming a serious problem for the dairy industry, and the growing preference for plant-based milk among consumers only made it worse.
The ensuing rise of the Post Milk Generation brought the rivalry between these two industries to the public eye, as Oatley was later on sued in 2019 by Big Dairy for registering the slogan “it’s like milk but made for humans” as an EU trademark. This claim, among many others, was seen as a violation of the Swedish Marketing Practices Act because it was considered offensive and harmful to the dairy industry. Oatley eventually lost the case, but received major publicity as a result of the lawsuit, and their worldwide sales skyrocketed.
Ties to Blackstone Investment Group Leads to Widespread Boycott
Despite the success of their supposed sustainable approach, Oatly have made some controversial business decisions in an effort to expand their company. In July of 2020, Oatly accepted investments from Blackstone–one of the world’s largest investment groups. They provide investors to “industry-leading” enterprises that shape our global economy in order to build businesses that “deliver lasting value”. Blackstone, however, has poured money into some of the worst climate offenders in the world. CEO of the firm, Stephen A. Schwarzman, who is also a noted Trump donor, has invested in Hidrovias do Brasil, “a driving force behind Amazon deforestation” (Grim, 2019).
Oatly still claims to be devoted towards finding new ways of helping people eat healthier “without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources,” even if this commercial choice seems to be at odds with their ambition. This highlights the ways in which capital, which is necessary even for sustainable companies to grow, “usually comes from sources that are more interested in money than in the environment” (Zhang, 2020). But “we need to remember,” says Toni Petersson, CEO of Oatly, “that speed and scale are exactly what our mission requires.” Oatly’s response to the critique surrounding their association with Blackstone insists “they need to speak a language that the capital markets can understand” in order to “shift the focus of massive capital towards sustainable approaches” (2020).
Regardless of their strategy to redirect funds from non environmentally friendly industries, knowing that “the money you have spent ends up profiting companies that actively invest in ways that harm the climate” can be a difficult pill to swallow, and one many might find quite distasteful (Särnell, 2020). Defenders of the company argue that Blackstone’s investment drives capital that would have otherwise gone towards another commercial enterprise into one which is sustainable instead. This controversy can be discussed for as long as it takes to cut greenhouse gas emissions to a resultant net zero, but people need to ultimately decide for themselves whether they can side with Oatly knowing all there is to know.
References
Change Isn’t Easy (2022) OatlyFans. Available at: https://community.oatly.com/conversations/news- and-views/change-isnt-easy/62f2f4c91b4bf47dd15fb249 (Accessed: 25 January 2024).
Goto, T. and Goto, T. (2021) How Oat Milk Can Help Save the Environment, MA in Climate and Society. Available at: https://climatesociety.ei.columbia.edu/news/how-oat-milk-can-help-save- environment (Accessed: 25 January 2024).
Grim, R. (2019) A Top Financier of Trump and McConnell is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation, The Intercept. Available at: https://theintercept.com/2019/08/27/amazon- rainforest-fire-blackstone/ (Accessed: 25 January 2024).
Särnell, A. (2020) Milked Oats: The Oatly Story and Their Controversial Investor, Osqledaren. Available at: https://osqledaren.se/kultur/milked-oats-the-oatly-story-and-their-controversial-investors (Accessed: 25 January 2024).
Zhang, J.G. (2020) Oatly Faces Backlash Over Ties to Trump-Linked Investment Group, Eater. Available at: https://www.eater.com/21418337/why-people-are-boycotting-oatly-blackstone- group (Accessed: 25 January 2024).