When Oatmilk Turns Sour...
Oh, Oatly! What are you playing at, aye?
The best tasting alternative milk out there is yet again at the heart of a brand contradiction and angst from consumers as Blackstone take a 10% share of the company.Â
To make it easy for people to turn what they eat and drink into personal moments of healthy joy without recklessly taxing the planet's resources in the process.
Thatâs Oatlyâs brand mission...
Everything the company had been doing between 2015 to mid-2020 had been true in adhering to this brand mission.
They were not only cleaning up their brand image (after the 2015 Chinese Resource acquisition), but looking to clean up their planet.
The brand were fast becoming a hot âLifestyle Companyâ (thanks to their Ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors) as alternative food consumption and anti-animal sub-cultures such as veganism began to soar in numbers (take a look at Veganuary every year!).
Oatly rode the crest of a big wave to provide a product that tasted so good, it was hard to consider any alternative... including milk!
Naturally, being sued by Swedish Milk gave the brand free PR and awareness, helping it to grow exponentially within its homeland and across Europe.
So much so that in 2018, the Swedish-based company struggled with the demand for Oatly Barista, the coffee connoisseurs version of the drink.Â
The supply didnât match the demand across Europe - their recipe had struck gold, their brand strategy resonated with itâs target audience too well, and they were dominating a market that theyâd been pivotal in shaping.Â
This lead to a negative environmental impact that the brand needed to change.
 A culture shift internally (shifting manufacturing to the UK to meet demand) lead to redevelopment of their production and logistics process to reduce their impact and increase sustainability. They succeeded in their mission.
Something the brand were uber proud about and shouted loudly about throughout the tail end of 2018, into 2019.Â
In 2019, the companyâs profits doubled to $200m off the back of the above, putting the brand in a powerful position. Currently worth $2bn.
However, multiple marketing campaigns tackling the âdonât drink milk, drink oatsâ approach came at a price. The previous Swedish Milk lawsuit and the consumer outrage to Oatlyâs latest campaign as the brand tackles the notion that it is packed carbohydrate sugars, being coined the âcokeâ of alternative milks.
Bear in mind this is a brand that classes its product as âhealthyâ, the Blackstone relationship couldnât have come at a worse time for the companyâs âimageâ.Â
MONEY DOESNâT GROW ON OATS
But it does for Oatly. As with any acquisition from an investment company, rumours of an imminent IPO are rife.Â
Having contemplated these options with Goldman Sachs, rumours could become reality within the next 12 months as reports begin to suggest the IPO is coming sooner than we think.
So money is more important than brand after all?
There is no such thing as brand values when you have the opportunity to become rich.Â
This isnât the first time the brand was in hot water from an acquisition, either.Â
After releasing equity to Chinese Resources in order to tackle the Chinese market, growing market share within a region that was growing in dairy consumption, Oatly saw a backlash from consumers challenging Oatly on why they were targeting a market known for environmental pollution.Â
Additionally, with Blackstone being linked to Hidrovias who are believed to be connected the contribution of the Amazon deforestation, consumers are again scratching their heads, trying to understand the thought process by Oatly beyond the obvious financial renumeration.
But remember, Oatly is a brand all about change; forcing cultural shifts where they matter - at the heart of the problem... right?
Iâm not saying this is the true message underpinning Oatlyâs motives, but it is something theyâve spoken about since the equity release to Blackstone.Â
Could it be all along that they have always been true to their word? Highly unlikely, but not entirely untrue.Â
The question for consumers struggling with this is... is the quality of the taste enough to outweigh the perceived lack of morality?
Coffee shops, consumers and activists are planning to/are boycotting the brand, stopping buying the product, but if the consumer demands an oat latte with Oatly Barista, the moral conundrum cascades from top to bottom. Can people afford a lesser tasting alternative?
Itâs whether we choose to believe that a brand is true to itâs supposed values, or whether we choose to stay true to our own values and hit them where it hurts...Â
https://sifted.eu/articles/oatly-blackstone-china/
https://sifted.eu/articles/gaining-customers-and-enemies-simultaneously/
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/01/oatly-vegan-milk-sale-blackstone
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/oatly-boycott-cancelled-twitter-blackstone-accusations-deforestation-trump-a9700656.html
https://www.oatly.com/int/about-oatly#:~:text=Our%20sole%20purpose%20as%20a,planet's%20resources%20in%20the%20process.
http://www.labbrand.com/brandsource/going-deeper-than-the-buzz-how-oatly-became-the-trendiest-plant-milk
https://www.mergermarket.com/info/oatly-evaluates-fundraising-options-ahead-possible-ipo-sources-say
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oatly-is-defending-itself-after-selling-stake-to-trump-donor-schwarzmans-blackstone-group-173742148.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF6bGg-xh-RQvtaynjulsfyxj6MDIU7cJzKh0fEwbSFJg7ymthTDXaGjYXIqJfyANl25bUOHO_P_FBTXvrCCdntdVKqrC1s-mHkE3ckCnuY6xbkyg-S-njoKN5E959Tl5Muf1MnbgqDsuF_zdoXNIgg4eGY9JpYMKJ8u4KPQGlfi
