|
The humble
oat has gotten a glow up from its days starring in grandma's porridge.
Yesterday, shares in Oatly, the world's biggest oat milk maker, soared 19% in its IPO, valuing the company at a trenta-sized $12 billion.
$12 billion for...oat milk?
If CEO Toni Petersson singing, "wow, no cow" at the Super Bowl was your Oatly introduction...we regret to inform you that you were behind on this one.
Oatly's story starts
in 1994, when Swedish brothers Rickard and Bjorn Oeste began developing
a milk alternative for the estimated two-thirds of people with lactose
intolerance. But the company didn't become a household name until
Petersson took over as CEO in 2014, refreshing Oatly's visual identity
and reframing its marketing around oat milk's health and environmental
benefits.
- Petersson
focused on the US market and built buzz by infiltrating corporate
watering holes, i.e. NYC coffee shops. Oatly sent its product to
specialty baristas, who introduced consumers to the new milk in a
perfectly frothed form you'd never be able to replicate at home.
Since then, Oatly's been keeping some A-list company. It raised
money last year at a $2 billion valuation from names including
Blackstone, Oprah, Natalie Portman, and Howard Schultz (whose former
company, Starbucks, recently began using Oatly nationwide). Oatly's
expanded to new products, including yogurt and ice cream, and now sells
in 60k stores and 32k coffee shops worldwide.
The alternative milk market is steaming up
And plenty
of brands are scrambling for a spot on the menu. In the oat department
alone, Oatly's got competition from Califia Farms, Chobani, Planet Oat,
Pacific, and Danone's legacy alternative milk brands, Alpro and Silk.
But oat milk
is still second fiddle to almond milk. And a gander through your local
grocery store’s dairy aisle will show you that companies are juicing
every nut, grain, seed, and bean that can (even loosely) mimic the
"real" thing.
Bottom line:
Oatly and other alternative milk brands seized on consumer demand for
more environmentally friendly and healthy products. Their bet is paying
off.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment