For the beverage industry, and frankly all of society, 2020 was a year of upheaval. Even as we say goodbye and good riddance, there’s plenty to look back on. As is tradition at BevNET, we present you with our Top 10 Most Read Stories of the year.
On Tuesday, Oatly closed one of the largest food and beverage financing deals of the year when it announced a $200 million funding round led by Blackstone Growth. Speaking with BevNET, Oatly CEO Toni Petersson said the financing represents a diversification of the company’s ownership structure, bringing in an American firm that will work directly with its European and Asian arms.
In a deal that values the company at nearly $2 billion, Swedish oat milk producer Oatly has secured $200 million in new equity funding in a round led by Blackstone Growth and a group of celebrity investors which includes Oprah Winfrey and former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, the company announced today.
Einride, a Swedish technology company that designs and develops technology for freight mobility, announced today that it will be partnering with Oatly, the original oat drink company, to transition to a sustainable transport solution with all-electric vehicles in the Swedish market.
Aiming to triple its distribution and open up West Coast production, Oatly has partnered with Starbucks to serve as the coffee retailer’s on-premise oat milk supplier for a test run in 1,300 Midwest cafes.
Having helped to build the category at retail, Stumptown Coffee Roasters is deepening its commitment to cold brew with the launch of a new line, made with oat milk from Swedish brand Oatly, next month.
Speaking at BevNET Live Summer 2019, Mike Messersmith, U.S. general manager for Oatly, explained how he navigated the company out of this crisis and got production up to scale within a year. In this video, Messersmith offers his experience with Oatly as an example of how a commitment to transparency and communication helped the brand land on its feet without losing out to the competition.
While Oatly is currently front and center in oat milk, it is facing an increased competition as brands including Quaker Oats, HP Hood, Silk, Califia Farms, Happy Planet, MALK, Elmhurst Milked, Rise Brewing Co., and Mooala all showcased their respective innovations at Expo West.
As dairy alternatives continue to rise new brands are rapidly entering the space, bringing with them disruptive innovations and unique platform propositions. But an influx also means brands have to work harder to differentiate and protect their corner of the grocery shelf. So the question becomes: how do you build the platform?
In the second and final part of our Natural Products Expo East 2018 recap, BevNET covers news emerging from the Organic Trade Association meeting and takes a look at some of the new products and developments in plant-based dairy, kombucha, functional waters and other categories.
After highlighting a handful of new drinks in our show preview last week, check out the following gallery for a look at some of the other new and forthcoming innovations we saw at Natural Products Expo East 2018.
Trademark hunters take over Slice and prep a relaunch; Long Island Iced Tea maker comes under fire from Nasdaq after blockchain pivot raises suspicions; Oatly addresses controversy over dealings with a pig farm; German Olympians choose non-alcoholic beer; Diet Coke’s rebrand gets an analysis.
In emphasizing strong customer service and close relationships with local brands, Boston-based Shirazi Distributing has grown from a small one-truck operation to an established supplier to restaurants, coffee shops and independent stores.
Speaking with the company’s U.S. general manager Mike Messersmith at Natural Products Expo East 2017, held Sept. 13-16 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Md., BevNET reporter Brad Avery gets the word on how the company intends to compete within the U.S. market and why it believes oat milk offers dairy-free consumers a high quality alternative to other alt-milks.
