Oatly Group AB — Ethics Grade C

Oatly Group AB receives an overall ethics grade of C (48/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Consumer Goods. Market cap: Mid Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 60
• privacy: 85
• consumer: 45
• environment: 55
• humanRights: 40

Documented incidents (3)

• Investment from Blackstone (medium, 2020) — Oatly faced a massive boycott after accepting a $200M investment from a consortium led by Blackstone. Critics pointed to Blackstone's links to infrastructure projects associated with Amazon deforestation and its CEO's political donations.
• Greenwashing Allegations (medium, 2021) — A short-seller report alleged that Oatly cherry-picked data in its sustainability reports to appear more environmentally friendly than competitors. The report claimed Oatly misrepresented its capital expenditure and production waste.
• Misleading Health Claims (low, 2022) — The UK Advertising Standards Authority banned several Oatly ads for making misleading environmental and health claims, specifically comparing the climate impact of its products to cow's milk without sufficient evidence.

Documented good deeds

• Climate Footprint Labeling — Oatly pioneered transparent carbon labeling on its packaging to encourage consumers to consider the climate impact of their food choices.

Ethical alternatives

• Califia Farms — Stronger focus on direct trade with farmers and renewable energy in production.