Olivia Selinger
University of Otago
Joe Cooper
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Otis Oat M!lk is New Zealand’s first plant-based milk made from 100% southern-grown oats harvested by New Zealand farmers. New Zealanders are responsible for the consumption of 400 million liters of milk each year and dairy cattle make up for 18.7% of New Zealand’s methane emissions. Founder Tim Ryan and his team at Otis Oat milk are here to challenge the status quo of intensive dairying and change the way we consume foods for future generations.
Otis Oat M!lk was founded in 2018 by Tim Ryan in Dunedin, New Zealand. The idea sparked in 2010 when Tim tried his first flat white with oat milk in London. He fell in love with the taste and realized that in New Zealand there was yet to be a market for plant-based milk. In December 2017, Tim moved back to New Zealand and began his product development journey. Fast forward, to April 2019, Otis Oat M!lk was launched at Dispensary café in Dunedin.
A little over a year after, in August 2020, Otis Oat M!lk became available to purchase in supermarkets through Foodstuffs, New Zealand’s largest grocery retailer. With the launch of Otis Oat M!lk in supermarkets, Tim soon realized that its current production capacity would not meet its demand. Therefore, the production of Otis Oat M!lk was moved from its current production at Lincoln University to a production center in Switzerland partnering up with a brand called Oatly. Today, Otis Oat M!lk has established itself across New Zealand and offers three varieties of oat milk in one-liter cartons over 230 cafes and 54 supermarkets.
Otis Oat M!lk offers a delicious alternative to dairy milk that is soy, nut, and vegan friendly. While maintaining important vitamins and minerals and dairy-like taste, the production of Otis oat milk requires fewer resources compared to dairy milk. Additionally, Otis Oat M!lk uses eco-friendly packaging made from wood pulp unlike most dairy milk packaged in plastic.
In 2010, Tim was working in an advertising agency in London when his girlfriend at the time suggested going on a vegetarian diet. Tim who is a coffee lover visited his usual café located below his workplace and tried flat white with oat milk for the first time. He immediately fell in love with its taste and found that it was different from other plant-based milk alternatives such as almond and soy. As someone who grew up on a farm that grew oats Tim thought that this was a clever idea and kept a note of this in the back of his mind.
Fast forward to 2015, when Tim came back home he became aware of the mass industrialization and intensive dairy farming in New Zealand. He soon realized that, unlike in Europe, there was yet to be a plant-based milk market in New Zealand and saw a great business opportunity. Tim states “I wanted to change why and how we consume foods for future generations.” Furthermore, he goes on to say “We are pro farmers but anti towards intensive dairy farming.” He emphasizes how important it is to support New Zealand farmers and local resources and this is the reason why they use only New Zealand Oats.Overall, Otis Oat M!lk as an innovation has positively affected the business, society, and the environment. Otis Oat m!lk values sustainable practices from where they source the oats to the final packaging of the product. The business gives New Zealanders a chance to support local farmers while standing against intensive dairy farming.
Otis Oat M!lk supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 12, and 13. Otis Oat M!lk supports goal 3 which is good health and well-being as it contains important vitamins such as vitamin B and is high in fiber. Goal 13's target of climate action is supported by Otis Oat milk as it does not use dairy which has high methane emissions. Its sustainable packaging made from wood pulp also supports this.
The most important goal for Otis Oat M!lk is goal 12, which calls for sustainable consumption and production patterns. The overall goal for Tim and the team at Otis Oat M!lk is to change the way we consume food. Through Otis Oat M!lk, their goal is to promote alternative products which efficiently use natural and local resources and have minimal negative impacts on human health and the environment in the long run.
Currently, Otis Oat M!lk is in the process of product development for other plant-based dairy products. Their long-term vision is to become a plant-based dairy alternative with a range of products expanding beyond milk and oats. They are looking to incorporate more New Zealand-grown goods such as Hemp and expand into products such as yogurt and cream. Otis Oat m!lk also has plans to shift its production facility back to New Zealand late next year which will lower its carbon emissions and provide more jobs in New Zealand.
The innovation of Otis Oat M!lk has positively benefited the business owner and team in multiple ways. Firstly, the business model has been successful financially, with a turnover of 2.5 million in 2021 and a forecasted turnover of 6 million in 2022. Tim expected sales to be much higher and displayed disappointment with the performance due to the Covid 19 pandemic. He stated, "about all of our export market shut down and we lost half our business." From Tim being the only staff at Otis Oat M!lk, they currently have 8 members and due to the success of the product, they are able to pay the living wage.
To support employees, Otis Oat M!lk has an employee-shared incentive scheme. This means that employees have the opportunity to take a share in the business if they work for the firm for a specific amount of time.
Otis Oat M!lk positively impacts both society and the environment and is an innovative business model that is replicable. Otis Oat M!lk supports New Zealand farmers by purchasing solely from Otago oat growers and its initiative, the "1% fund". The 1% fund is an initiative that was placed in September 2021 which gives back by dedicating 1% of its total annual sales to oat farmers in New Zealand. Tim hopes that this will "make oats viable and an exciting alternative for New Zealand farmers." Tim follows on to say that he will continue supporting New Zealand farmers this way long term.
Otis Oat M!lk as an innovation supports the environment in many ways. Firstly, producing one liter of oat milk requires 11 times less land, 13 times less water, and 6.5 times fewer fertilizers than one liter of dairy milk on average which supports many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Secondly, its packaging is made from wood pulp and solely renewable energy is used to manufacture the packaging, making it very sustainable when compared to plastic bottles.
Otis Oat m!lk also has plans to shift its production facility back to New Zealand late next year which will lower its carbon emissions and provide more jobs in New Zealand. Tim hopes that this will encourage more dairy alternative products to emerge and challenge the dairy status quo.
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Tim Ryan, Founder
