Now that Oatly is part owned by an investment company linked to Amazonian deforestation, does anybody have good alternatives?

[Tellmetruth4]

www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/01/oatly-vegan-milk-sale-blackstone

I love the taste of Oatly but my reason for switching to non dairy was partly because of deforestation so I’m shocked the owners thought it would be a good idea to sell to Blackstone who not only invest in deforestation but are also major Trump donors. This means they are also supporting climate change scepticism.

My family will no longer be buying this product but I don’t know of a nice tasting plant based alternative.

Why had I never heard of this product before today and now there are 2 threads about it? And not even for the same reasons?!

Don’t know, maybe it’s the law of probability like throwing a dice and getting two 6s in a row? Anyway do you have an answer to my question on alternatives?

Have you tried the Lidl oat milk?

No but I’ll try it out. Thanks.

We've used the Aldi oat milk which seems fine. We won't be buying Oatly again!

Lidl's plant milks are nice, and cheap.

Thanks again. Looks like Oatly’s greed has led to them doing a Ratner!

If you had any idea how many green/eco friendly products were linked to private equity companies with questionable portfolio investments, you’d become a breatharian.

A good guide is that if product is available via a major supermarket there’s a reasonable chance there’s PE backers involved.

So claim is actually that they sold partly to an investment firm who may or may not (they deny it) have invested in a Brazilian infrastructure company that may have contributed to deforestation and one employee has privately donated to a political party?

I mean it's like the business equivilent of "Sally is totaly a slag my mate said she slept with Gary so you best not invite her to your party" stuff

Agree with @jcurve

Elsewyre, you say 'one employee' like it's Dave from IT who donated a tenner, when it was the founder & CEO of Blackstone who donated close to $1million to Trump's campaign.

Eh maybe read a bit more about the aims of the future in terms of sustainable capitalism before you go cancelling brands. Could be a bit of ‘greenwashing’ from Blackstone by buying Oatly, but as pp said - most products stocked in high street supermarkets have dodgy financing or practices somewhere down the line

Also - I hate Trump but you want to check out his donor list before using that as a reason - his donors infiltrate almost every industry

OP, I think Alpro's oat mill tastes alright. However, Alpro is owned by dairy company Danone, so not sure how you feel about that?

I buy the Aldi version, it’s also half the price. And they do an unsweetened one.

I don’t have the time to research everything I put into my shopping basket. A major paper has done the work for me by bringing this news to my attention.

I just need alternatives not a lecture on why I shouldn’t ever bother trying to switch products because everything is dodgy. I know about this one now so I’m not buying it. A company who’s USP is partly about helping save the planet should not be part owned by Blackstone.

Aldi is amongst the least ethical of supermarket retailers, consistently ranking at the bottom for human rights ethical practices amongst the U.K. supermarket cohort.

Danone is slightly better as they are committed to transitioning to a B Corp but have certainly done their fair share of crappy things in the past, not least sending dairy farmers to the wall and unethically marketing baby milk formula in developing countries.

You’re being a bit short with people op

No need to bite peoples heads off

Minor Figures oat milk. So good! You can order online for a months worth, so it ends up about the same price as Oatly.

@Tellmetruth4 we’re trying to point out why the alternatives aren’t much better, and are in same cases much worse.

The reality is that any widely available product that markets itself as a niche, ethical alternative simply won’t be because you need the clout of experienced financial backers to achieve that depth of product penetration in the UK.

Also, the Daily Mail really shouldn’t be your guide to ethical investment practices.

Depends why you drink it. Do you need calcium fortified dairy alternatives, because some oat milks arent fortified.

Do you need the fats from the barista version? Because again, many other oat milks don't have much fat added.

I’d also say minor figures, you can bulk buy online.

This is ridiculous - you should be pleased that a large private equity firm has chosen to divert capital into a sustainable eco-friendly business. This is how change happens. Fund managers are starting to put ESG factors at the top of the list when choosing investments and that can only be a good thing.

If you genuinely think big company = bad, you’re restricted to essentially artisan suppliers and no change will ever result - the ‘eco’ option will never become mainstream. You can’t have it both ways.

And to those considering Aldi oat milk as an alternative, do you know who makes it? Most own brands are made by the big firms (so Tesco tea bags might be made by Tetley etc).

I don’t think I’m being short with people at all. The first response was to question why there were two similar threads so I responded that it was pure chance then I got an inevitable ‘unless you’re perfectly ethical in every single aspect of your life, give up and don’t try’ i.e setting the bar so high for people trying to do better that it’s impossible to meet so I responded to that. I’ve been thanking people who have provided alternatives.

Thanks to all those I haven’t thanked yet.

You could try making it. It's just oats and water left to soak then blended and strained.