Proterra establishes Asian oat milk brand

The new company, Oatside, claims to be the first full-stack oat milk producer to originate from the region, with in-house manufacturing capabilities and full control over all aspects of sourcing and production. Proterra has provided the bulk of its USD 22m in funding to date

Oatside has introduced three oat milk variants – coffee, chocolate, and chocolate hazelnut – created without the use of artificial flavours, gums, emulsifiers, preservatives, or colouring. Products are said to help reduce cholesterol and boost immunity, and be suitable for lactose-intolerant consumers. They are intended to be creamier and maltier than most plant-based milks.

The Singapore-headquartered company also claims sustainability bona fides, with production of its oak milk requiring 90% less land and water than cow’s milk, while generating 70% less emissions. All ingredients are Rainforest Alliance certified, according to a statement.

Other oat-based dairy brands targeting the Asia market include Oatly, a Swedish operator backed by a joint venture between China Resources Group and Verlinvest. The company, which claims to be the world’s largest oat milk company, entered China in 2018 through the speciality coffee and tea channel. Asia accounted for 13% of revenue in 2020, up from 1.7% in 2018.

Oatly raised USD 1.43bn via a US IPO in May 2021 and now has a market capitalisation of USD 4.5bn, up from USD 2bn when The Blackstone Group led a USD 200m round earlier the same year.

“We believe plant-based milk is a high growth sector in Asia. Oatside’s offering fits perfectly into our approach of investing in the most exciting food trends in the region. Plant-based milk is the sustainable future of milk and we believe Oatside will be the leading driver of the category in Asia with its best-in-class taste,” said Tai Lin, a managing partner at Proterra.

The private equity firm has previous experience launching consumer brands. It established Fengji Food Group in 2019 as a high-quality egg producer for the China market. The company recently raised CNY 600m (USD 95m) for Yellow Swan, a subsidiary that produces edible raw eggs.

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• Topics
• Consumer
• Early-stage
• Southeast Asia
• Asia
• Proterra Investment Partners