meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
The Europeans | European news, politics and culture

The Oatly Chronicles Part 3: Can Green Capitalism Save Us All?

The Europeans | European news, politics and culture

Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer

Society & Culture, News

4.8274 Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Swedish oat milk brand Oatly has taken on some eyebrow-raising investments over the past few years. It insists those investments haven’t changed its proud identity as a climate-saving company – but is that really true? In the third and final episode of ‘The Oatly Chronicles’, we investigate a piggy controversy, why oat milk is so damn expensive, and whether Oatly is acting like a big, bad oat milk monopoly. And we ask: what *should* we be eating, to save the planet? This series is funded by Journalismfund Europe and the Allianz Foundation. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify.   Credits: This episode was produced by Katz Laszlo, and reported by Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee. Editing came from Katy Lee, as well as Justine Paradis, visiting from NPR’s excellent podcast, Outside/In. Editorial support came from Margot Gibbs, Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak, and mastering, scoring and sound design also came from Wojciech.  Artwork came from favourite illustrator RTiiiKA. Thank you for talking to us: George Monbiot, Fredrik Gertten, Laura Young, Ashley Allen, Lisa van der Velden, Thin Lei Win, Sonalie Figueiras, Sara Berger, and Boris de Lorn.  Special thanks to lovely neighbours Joris Klingen and Thomas van Dijk, for letting us use their very nice studio. You can find their music under Bovenburen. Interesting links: Oatly’s ‘Fuck Oatly’ website: https://fckoatly.com  ‘The Awkward Truth about Oatly and Alpro’: Lisa van der Velden’s reporting in the Financiele Dagblad, December 2022 https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1458366/ongemakkelijke-waarheid-oatly-en-alpro-voeden-intensieve-veehouderij ‘Big Dairy is trying to get Gen Z’ - New York Times, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/dining/milk-dairy-industry-gen-z.html ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | Bluesky | ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠  ⁠⁠[email protected]

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, Katie.

0:09.2

Hi, Katie. Hi, cats. We are back.

0:25.2

Hi Katie.

0:25.8

Hello Dominic. Hello cats.

0:27.2

For the third and final instalment of the Oatley Chronicles,

0:31.5

our investigative series looking at the Swedish oat milk brand, Oatley.

0:37.3

If you haven't heard the first two episodes, go back and listen to the first two parts immediately.

0:41.8

Immediately.

0:42.7

Right now.

0:44.0

But if you have listened to the first two episodes, then we can carry on.

0:47.9

Where are you taking us today, Katz?

0:49.5

Yes, this final week, we are looking into what has happened to Oatley.

0:56.2

So far, we have learned that dairy is terrible for the planet right up there with burning fossil fuels. And O'Lee says that in

1:01.3

order to defeat the almighty dairy industry, it's prepared to take on some very controversial investments.

1:08.2

So today, the question is, how has Oatley changed since it took on those investments?

1:14.6

I'm intrigued.

1:22.8

So when we last left Oatley, it was 2020. The company was bulging with all of this controversial

1:28.4

money, and off they went. Oatley opened new factories. Its products hit the supermarket shelves

1:33.6

in more and more countries, and they ballooned from being a startup with about 100 people on their

1:37.9

staff to a full-blown multinational with 2,000 employees.

1:41.2

Whoa.

1:42.2

In the last episode, we spoke to Frederick Gerton, a film director from Malmo, who had a lot of friends

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -509 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.