Malmö,Sweden-based oat drink company Oatly has announced plans for its first UK factory, located in Peterborough.
The company says the new plant will provide “an end-to-end solution for Oatly”and is expected to offer 200 new jobs.
Set to open in early 2023, Oatly says sustainability will be at the heart of the new development. The UK factory is part of the wider initiative fro the company to
“build factories fit for the future, with efficient use of resources and minimal negative impact on the planet”.
Oatly is aiming to use 100% renewable energy, and decrease its energy consumption, water consumption and waste by 75% each at the factory, by 2029 compared to Oatly’s environmental footprint in 2019.
The new factory will produce 300 million litres of oat drink per year at launch, with the capacity to grow to 450 million litres – making it one of the largest plant-based dairy factories in the world.
Oats will be sourced locally across the UK and the factory will supply the UK market. The new facility will also global standards set by Oatly to help ensure staff “feel safe, valued and empowered whilst working to help protect the planet”.
Ishen Paran, general manager at Oatly UK said, “Questions about a potential UK factory have been circulating for a while, and we’re really excited to finally announce the news of its arrival in 2023. The UK is a really important driver of the global plant-based movement, with a growing demand for Oatly across the country, and we’re excited to supply this increased demand.”
Johan Rabe, chief supply chain officer added, “We look forward to supplying the UK with more oat drink – we’re even more excited to do it in a sustainable way. Like everything we do at Oatly, we’ve ensured that sustainability is core to our factory planning. Everything, from the sourcing of our oats, to the production of our product range specifically designed for humans, has sustainability at the heart of it. Even as we strive to grow one of the biggest plant-based dairy factories to its full capacity, this will still be our top priority”.
Image: Oatly, via Facebook
