NOVEL THINKING

Before the company made improvements to its American supply chain, Oatly was in such ravenous demand that at one point, a single carton was going for $25 on Amazon. Vegan milk brand Oatly is facing protests by climate and political activists who say the decision to sell a stake in the company to a consortium that includes Blackstone, a powerful private equity firm headed by Trump donor Stephen Schwartzman, has left a sour taste. ", Per a report from the Intercept last August, the Brazilian firms Young mentioned "are significantly responsible for the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest," as they have taken control of land, deforested it, and helped build a "controversial" highway "to facilitate the cultivation and export of grain and soybeans." And understandably, with the rise of veganism and a newfound desire to save the planet, consumers have helped Oatly grow exponentially since it started in the 1990s. An investor deal which valued Oatly at nearly $2bn is coming under scrutiny. Discussion: the Oatly controversy I might be super late to the party with this, but I only just found out about the Oatly controversy. In a statement posted on Twitter, the company said Blackstone may be an “unexpected choice”, but the investment “will help us expand our sustainable mission and create more plant-based products”. The company did not build this highway, nor are they paving it,” Blackstone said. Just this month, SELF concluded that the "oat milk craze isn't going anywhere," with the affordability, sustainability, and ease of growing oats adding to the product's appeal. In a separate post, Oatly wrote: "[O]ur company is definitely not destroying forests. When it was signed, the deal underscored the growing popularity of plant-based foods. Can Burger King's meat-free burger attract the climate conscious? ", Oatly is now defending itself against complaints and memes over its ties to Blackstone. Investment comes at a cost to the environment that means 'conscious consumers' can't shop their values even when they try.". This revelation caused mixed reactions among vegans. Oatly has now been placed in the position of defending the deal. On Tuesday, the company reiterated its position that Hidrovias was not involved in a road through the Amazon rainforest used to transport soy grown on illegally deforested land and had won awards for its sustainability efforts. "), The conversation is building on Twitter, where fans are sharing their disappointment with the brand. The Swedish oat milk giant told Plant Based News it knew the investment would generate controversy, but while the choice to work with the consortium ‘may seem like an unexpected one’, Oatly believes it was ‘required for the advancement of the plant-based movement’. A Twitter thread appeared over the weekend that linked Blackstone to a controversial Brazilian infrastructure investment that has been accused of contributing to deforestation in the Amazon. We're here to facilitate the global shift toward plant-based foods and don’t support any business practices that come at the expense of the environment. "This means that they are part owned by a global investment group who have some pretty devastating work across the world." The Swedish oat milk brand Oatly has undeniably revolutionized non-dairy milk, with its presence in the United States expanding from just 10 coffee shops in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019, as well as a home product line that now includes flavored milks, lattes, and ice cream. Deforestation has made the Amazon more susceptible to wildfires, which have increased this year according to a recent report from NBC. Founded in the 1990s by brothers Rickard and Björn Öste, Oatly entered the US market four years ago. improvements to its American supply chain, How Oatly Became America's Trendiest Plant Milk. Oat milk has benefits compared to other non-dairy options, including a need for less water and less herbicide than almond or soy milk, but its large-scale production can still have problems. All it takes is water and oats. "We believe this is necessary in order to see real change." The $200m deal for the Swedish oat milk brand, favored by many vegans and non-dairy drinkers and considered one of the most sustainable non-dairy milk brands, was agreed in July. Vegan milk brand Oatly is facing a boycott from UK customers after it sold a £150million stake to a group lead by a private equity firm whose boss is a … In mid July, however, Oatly earned a valuation of $2 billion after a $200 million investment from Blackstone Growth, per Bloomberg. Notwithstanding that accusation, Blackstone’s Schwartzman has been a prominent Wall Street supporter of Donald Trump. ", While Oatly's intentions may be good, the situation highlights the challenges in "ethical" and conscious shopping. Oatly’s choice of Blackstone as an investor did not sit well with some ethical consumers who chose the oat milk brand for their commitment to sustainable change. Though she supports oat milk as "one of the biggest solutions to reducing food carbon emissions," Young wrote that she doesn't want her money going "to the destruction of the planet, and putting people's lives and land at risk just so that I can have a creamy coffee in the morning! One of Oatly's touted benefits is sustainability—especially when its manufacturing process is compared to other non-dairy options like almond milk, which uses huge amounts of water in drought-ridden parts of California. Which includes who we choose as owners, as we need to move global capital in a sustainable direction if we’re to see real change.”, The company added: “If we just shut out the companies that may make less sustainable choices, we won’t give them the chance to improve and make more sustainable choices, so global capital will keep being steered in a less sustainable direction.”. "Oat milk sales have been up by 289% year-over-year from March to June," Business Insider reported last month using data provided by Nielsen. As Sian Conway, a self-described "ethical marketing strategist" and founder of Ethical Hour, wrote in a tweet, the situation reveals flaws in the food system: "Sustainable brands can't go mainstream & create widespread change without investment. Oat milk giant Oatly has risen to the top of the plant-based milk market with its vast assortment of high quality oat milks, pints of ice cream, and even yogurt. Oat milk’s popularity is soaring – sales in US stores grew nearly 300% year-over-year to June, according to Nielsen data. Climate activist and speaker Laura Young, also known as Less Waste Laura, kicked the conversation off on a popular Instagram post this week. According to the company, it sells the residue from its factory to a local pig farm – a move, it says, that is the most sustainable and environmentally-friendly. The Oatly Controversy, Explained After a firm with ties to deforestation invested in the Swedish oat milk company last month, fans are calling for a boycott. Still, if you can't figure out a brand to support, oat milk is easy to make at home, as Young and other social media users have pointed out. Vegan milk brand Oatly is facing protests by climate and political activists who say the decision to sell a stake in the company to a consortium that includes Blackstone, a … According to Bloomberg, the billionaire investor has donated $3m to Super Pac America First Nation, which supports the president’s re-election. It's like milk, but for humans Oatly has ploughed £700,000 into bringing a controversial ad campaign to the UK. By signing up to the VICE newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from VICE that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content. For those of you that don't know, after making their oat milk (labelled as vegan, I might add), they sell the leftover residue as feed to a pig slaughter farm. Blackstone's major investment alongside its alleged ties to deforestation in the Amazon are now at the center of the current controversy. The private equity firm that now has a stake in Oatly has been accused of contributing to deforestation in the Amazon, First published on Tue 1 Sep 2020 22.54 BST. As Oatly states on its website, the company's guiding principles include delivering "products that have maximum nutritional value and minimal environmental impact" and producing "the most sustainable, responsible products on the market.

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