OATLY OAT MLK RETURNS

(Oat) Milk with Your Coffee?
 

If you’ve jumped on the oat milk trend, the Swedish brand Oatly has likely been your drink of choice. Launched in the 1990s, the vegan, plant-based milk alternative made from gluten-free oats is distributed in more than 20 countries throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Its familiar cartons became nearly ubiquitous at upscale coffee shops and grocers throughout the U.S.

With consumer interest in plant-based options continuing to rise, however, Oatly has struggled to meet demand over the past 18 months. Retailers experienced product delivery delays and back orders; frustrated fans began to seek other dairy alternatives.

“We wanted the product, but just couldn’t get it,” says Katrina Lowe, manager of Small World Coffee’s Nassau Street café in Princeton, where Oatly was so popular that the café ordered it by pallet loads until the supply dried up for nearly a year. “We experimented with other brands, but Oatly was the favorite in taste tests with our employees.”

Those shortages, however, may now be a thing of the past. In April, Oatly opened its first U.S. production facility in Millville, New Jersey. According to Sara Fletcher, a spokesperson for the company, the Cumberland County factory will allow Oatly to increase volume as much as tenfold. Regular deliveries of Oatly to Small World Coffee and other locations resumed in July.