Oatly, Amazon strengthens ties into European market

EUROPE – Oatly, the world’s largest oat drink processing company, has expanded the scope of its agreement with Amazon, a multinational e-commerce company, through a new pan-European arrangement that will see a range of Oatly’s Oat Drink products available in the European market.

Having entered into a tie-up with the e-commerce giant in the UK last October, Oatly products will now be available in countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Under the arrangement, Oatly will have the ability to list several of its popular Oat Drink lines across the markets including Oatly Barista Edition, Oatly Light, Oatly Semi, Oatly Whole, Oatly “No” Sugars and Mini Barista.

“We’re excited to build on the successful relationship we’ve had with Amazon in the UK and look forward to making more Oatly products available to more Amazon customers across Europe,” said Daniel Ordoñez, Chief Operating Officer at Oatly.

“Amazon is an important part of our customer mix that helps support our mission to make plant-based drinks increasingly accessible and affordable to people and small businesses everywhere for the benefit of our planet.”

Since launching a direct relationship with Amazon in the UK in October of last year, Oatly Barista Edition has regularly performed in the top 30 of all grocery products and is currently leading in oat drink sales on Amazon in the UK.

Oatly has formed a new pan-European business group to manage the Amazon relationship, which will be led by its General Manager of the UK & Ireland, Bryan Carroll.

Oatly plans to produce a fully enclosed bespoke packaging solution for Amazon customers, allowing shipment straight through Amazon’s supply chain.

This removes the need for additional packaging and further reduces the carbon footprint of purchasing via this channel compared to customary packaging.

Scaling of the relationship follows recent reports that sales of plant-based milks have increased by 20% across Europe and plant-based foods were reported to be on the rise, amounting to €5.7 billion in 2022, with milks leading the category.

Last week, Oatly revealed its results for the second quarter and slashed its sales outlook for the remainder of the year. Shares in the oat-milk maker fell as much as 29% in New York trading.

However, the company attributed the struggles to its market in Asia, which has not recovered post-pandemic as the group expected.

Oatly’s second quarter in the EMEA region meanwhile jumped 17.6% year-on-year to US$97m, mainly due to price increases introduced at the beginning of the year as well as solid volume growth in oat drinks. Adjusted EBITDA reached US$7.3m compared to $5.3m the year prior.

Jean-Christophe Flatin, Oatly CEO, said that the brand is making progress towards achieving profitable growth in 2024, partially down to the performance in Europe.

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