Oatly's Oatmilk Life Cycle Assessment

Introduction:

Oatly is a Swedish food company that makes dairy alternative products from oats. It was established in 1994 by means of research from Lund University (Oatly, n.d.). Oatly has a range of products including ice-cream, and yogurt substitutes (Oatly, n.d.). However, their most popular item and product this paper will be analyzing is their original oatmilk beverage. Oatly is the pioneer of commercial oatmilk and launched this product in the U.S. in 2016 (Stone, 2019). In 2019 they opened their first U.S.-based production factory in New Jersey to meet the growing North American demand (Smith, 2021). They also opened a plant in Utah in 2020 and have plans for their largest facility yet, to be opened in Texas in 2023 (Forrester, 2021). Sales of oatmilk have increased by 1200% from 2019 to 2021, and is catching up to almond milk as the nation’s favorite alternative milk (Wiener-Bronner, 2021).

I chose to analyze the Oatly’s oatmilk because it is a food product I consume nearly on a daily basis. Whether I use it for my morning cereal and coffee, or for cooking and baking, Oatly is my preferred brand of oatmilk because of its taste and creamy texture reminiscent of traditional cow’s milk. However, as a sustainabilitist it is important to me to look into how sustainable products I consume actually are with a holistic lens and a life cycle assessment is a great tool to measure just that. This paper will analyze the life cycle of a half-gallon carton of Oatly’s original chilled oatmilk in North America as that is where I am located and make my own Oatly purchases. This life cycle assessment includes production, packaging, storage, distribution, consumption, and waste management as well as its environmental aspects and impacts.

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