Oatly co-founder on scaling alt milk and the need for local food production

In this episode, I speak to Bjorn Oste, who cofounded Oatly, the dairy alternative company that recently saw its flagship oat milk product fly off the shelves during the first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic due to its shelf-stable nature. Bjorn is such fun and candid and tells a great story of the founding of Oatly with his brother and the fantastic, ESG-oriented company it is today complete, with quirky and bold branding often seen adorned on the side of buses.

We actually recorded this just as the pandemic was kicking off and before that oat milk rush, so you’ll hear limited conversations about that but what’s really cool is how he answers my typical question on how you view the future food system in 2050; a lot of what he says now feels extra relevant given the challenges Covid-19 has presented and ways in which the food system has had to adapt.

We also talk about his new food ventures which includes a focus on combatting diabetes and how he transitioned from IT to food in the 1990s.

This is an extra special and slightly longer edition of Future Food but please hang in there as there are a lot of great insights! As always, thanks so much for listening.