Oat milk as a service
This week Swedish company Oatly debuted on the Nasdaq, with shares jumping on its first day of trading — valuing the company at ~$13bn. That's a pretty frothy valuation for a company that sold just $421m of oat milk last year, making a not-so-refreshing $47m operating loss while it did so.
Data from Google searches reveal how interest in oat milk has exploded in the last 3-4 years, and explains why investors have been scrambling to invest in Oatly. Before 2019, oat milk was searched for significantly less than rivals soy milk and even rice milk — with almond milk king of the "alternative milk" market by some distance.
As consumer concerns about the sustainability of cow milk have intensified (a glass of dairy milk reportedly produces~3x more greenhouse gases than plant-based milks) some climate conscious consumers have begun to search for alternatives. That's been greatly to the benefit of oat milk producers, pushing oat milk quite comfortably into the position of second most popular alternative milk thanks to aggressive marketing campaigns from Oatly (and others).
As we write this we're drinking a glass of oat milk and would describe it as a bit like drinking a thick version of the color beige, which is quite nice. But $13bn for a company that essentially combines oats and water (at a loss)? That's quite a lot.
Data snack: Check out how searches for alternative milks spike every January in the chart. New Year's resolution? Dry January?
