Oat milk brand Otis is bringing production back from Europe to its native New Zealand.
“It’s taken us nearly five years to establish a first-of-its-kind, purpose-built New Zealand factory with the technology required to produce premium oat milks to the gold standard we make our oat milk,” said Tim Ryan, co-founder of Otis. “New Zealand farmers grow some of the highest quality oats globally. And with this facility, we’re producing arguably the highest quality oat milk in the world.”
Ryan – an ex-founder at Oatly and Chairperson of the board at Swedish plant-based technology company Cerealiq– added that the factory is the culmination of an eighteen month project collaborating with New Zealand, German, and Swedish food technology companies.
The facility is owned by premium beverage producer Free-flow Manufacturing and possesses enzyme technology developed by Sweden’s Angie Triantafyllou.
Otis was founded in 2018 in Canterbury as New Zealand’s first oat milk producer. As the business scaled up production, Ryan and co-founder Chris Wilkie worked with Cerealiq’s patented enzyme technology, eventually deciding to export New Zealand oats for manufacturing in Sweden to safeguard the recipe.
However, the founders said they had long been set on bringing production of their oat milk back to New Zealand.
“It’s exciting that the technology is available in New Zealand for the first time, enabling Otis to produce the freshest, highest quality, nutritious and delicious oat milk in our homeland, Wilkie said. “This new facility will produce our oat milk recipe to the world-class standard levels of beta-glucan, the nutritional gold ingredient found in Otis oat milk. Beta-Glucan helps the body to maintain stable cholesterol levels and a healthy gut.”
Otis said the factory and the technology and expertise it brings opening marks a significant leap for the New Zealand plant-based beverage industry and advances the country’s position as a sustainable food innovation leader.
The company works closely with the New Zealand Oat Industry Group, which includes Plant Research, Harraways mill, and around 70 arable farmers using oat varieties that were optimised and developed over 20 years for the southern growing region.
Otis also emphasised that its return to NZ comes at a time of steady growth in the plant-based milk sector as consumer preferences shifts towards more sustainable options.
According to data from Circana & Nielsen, New Zealanders are drinking oat milk than in the past, with the drink making up 41 percent of plant based milk sales in New Zealand, compared to almond milk at 27.3 percent (-0.3%), soy milk 23 percent (-1%) and coconut milk at five percent (+.3%).
Otis said its 100% homegrown oat milk went on supermarket shelves nationwide on 1 July.
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