Oatly has shifted to a direct selling model with Amazon across Europe, following a successful trial in the UK.
Although much of Oatly’s range has been available in Europe on the marketplace for some time, this was typically via wholesalers and resellers. The brand has now forged a selling relationship with Amazon that will see the brand sell its most popular SKUs directly to consumers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Oatly plans to produce a “fully enclosed bespoke packaging solution” for Amazon customers, meaning products can be delivered without the need for an additional Amazon outer box.
“This removes the need for additional packaging and further reduces the carbon footprint of purchasing via this channel compared to customary packaging,” the oat milk maker said.
Since launching a direct relationship with Amazon in the UK in October last year, Oatly Barista Edition has frequently featured in the top 30 of all grocery products sold on the marketplace and is currently the top selling oat drink.
Amazon Prime members will be able to access Oatly products with next-day and subscribe & save delivery options.
“Amazon is an important part of our customer mix that helps support our mission to make plant-based drinks increasingly accessible and affordable to people and small businesses everywhere for the benefit of our planet,” said Daniel Ordonez, chief operating officer at Oatly.
The scaling of the relationship follows a Good Food Institute Europe report that sales of plant-based milks have increased by 20% across Europe since 2020. Sales of plant-based foods are on the rise across the continent, amounting to €5.7bn in 2022, with plant-based milks leading the category.
Despite the positive outlook in Europe, Oatly shares crashed last month as the embattled plant-based group drastically cut its sales outlook for the year due to Asian markets recovering slower than expected from the pandemic, and widening losses.
The producer now forecasts revenue growth for 2023 in the range of 7% to 12% year on year, down from the 23% to 28% jump it predicted at the time of its annual 2022 results in March.
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