Swedish Oatly is a vegan food brand that produces alternatives to dairy products from oats. With headquarters in Malmö, Sweden, the company started producing alternatives to cow’s milk over 30 years ago using research from Lund University.
These days the company has been on a mission to grow its presence in Asia and they are already well on their way. Awareness regarding health and sustainability has been a growing trend in Singapore in recent years and in an interview with The Drum, Amanda Chan, marketing and communications lead for Asia, talks about Oatly’s ongoing ambitions for the Asian market.
Oatly started selling products on a small scale in Singapore a few years ago but quickly saw an increase in demands. That was the motivation to fully launch into the market and Oatly products are now already available at around 600 outlets points which includes partnerships with over 330 specialty cafés and chain coffee shops such as Starbucks. The company also saw that consumers prioritized their wellbeing more during the pandemic and that was an opportunity for Oatly to expand into various E-commerce services such as RedMart and Cold Storage in Singapore as well.
More knowledge about plant-based food is needed in Asia. Consumers do not know what plant-based means or why it is a healthier alternative to cow’s milk. Oatly is eager to help drive real behavioral change in favor of more sustainable and healthy lifestyle choices. With the company’s ’The New Milk’ campaign in Singapore they seek to educate consumers on alternative options that do not harm animals or the planet’s resources, encouraging them to rethink what ’milk’ means.
Amanda Chan says that a next step for the company will also be to bring in a wider range of their oat-based products to Singapore. In addition to their dairy-free milk, Oatly has launched a vegan ice-cream in Singapore and the company plans to add more products as well.
