Swedish brand Oatly is planning to open one of the world’s largest plant-based factories in the UK.

The facility, located in Peterborough, is slated to open in Q1 2023. It is expected to supply the local area with around 200 new jobs.

Oatly UK factory

Oatly says the factory will be able to produce 300 million liters of oat drink per year at launch, with the capacity to grow to 450 million liters. Oats will be sourced locally across the UK and the factory will supply the UK market.

The facility will help continue Oatly’s drive to create a ‘systemic shift in society and the food system towards plant-based’.

Moreover, the brand says the health and safety of workers will be placed ‘at the forefront’. The brand says it will also adhere to global standards to ‘ensure people feel safe, valued and empowered whilst working to help protect the planet’. 

‘A driver of the plant-based movement’

Ishen Paran is the General Manager at Oatly UK. In a statement sent to PBN, he said: “Questions about a potential UK factory have been circulating for a while. We’re really excited to finally announce the news of its arrival in 2023. 

“The UK is a really important driver of the global plant-based movement, with growing demand for Oatly across the country, and we’re excited to supply this increased demand.” 

Sustainability

Moreover, Chief Supply Chain Officer Johan Rabe added: “We look forward to supplying the UK with more oat drink. We’re even more excited to do it in a sustainable way. 

“Like everything we do at Oatly, we’ve ensured that sustainability is core to our factory planning. Everything, from the sourcing of our oats, to the production of our product range specifically designed for humans, has sustainability at the heart of it. 

“Even as we strive to grow one of the biggest plant-based dairy factories to its full capacity, this will still be our top priority.”