Oatly’s revenues point to growing consumer consciousness

Oatly, the Nasdaq-listed Swedish alt-milk firm, has posted a 53% rise in revenues compared to the year before as health and climate consciousness boosts the company’s fortunes.

Having listed on the New York based exchange known for its tech stocks in May, Oatly remains thoroughly in expansion mode as it grows production capacity (in the three months to July it grew 43%) and has subsequently announced a 50% expansion of its Utah plant.

Why it matters

Arguably the leader in the hugely popular alternative milk space now worth $17 billion worldwide, per Euromonitor data quoted by the FT, Oatly’s tactic of finding change at the all important coffee counter saw it shift the category norm away from unfashionable health food to a ‘barista-certified’ lifestyle choice that chimes with the public’s growing acknowledgement that they ought to reduce beef and dairy consumption for the good of the planet.

What’s happening

• While revenues are growing and are set to continue growing throughout this year – the firm now expects a 64% YOY increase on last year’s results, ahead of analyst forecasts.
• As it grows, however, costs of production as well as increased selling, general, and administrative expenses (SGA) under which marketing costs fall, have all grown too. Net losses grew from $4.8m in Q2 2020 to $59.1m this year.
• Compared to the pandemic year, the firm upped its marketing spend by $5.3 million in the quarter to July, which looks big but is an effect of diminished activity while key markets were under lockdown.
• Asia is a particularly bright spot for the company as revenues increased 148% (though from a much lower base than EMEA and the US), as the company says its production capabilities were able to keep up with rising demand.
• The company, which had made its name by taking on dairy-based incumbents in 2015, is now taking smaller competitors to court over what it claimed was their attempts to piggyback on Oatly’s trademarks. A UK judge recently ruled against the Swedish firm.

Key quote

“2021 represents the most transformational year in our Company’s history with the completion of our successful IPO in May, which has provided us with the capital to fuel new production capacity globally as we scale our business across three continents to meet the robust consumer demand for our leading oat-based brand” – Toni Petersson, CEO, Oatly.

Sourced from Oatly, Financial Times, The Guardian, WARC