Blackstone-backed Oatly used offbeat marketing to turn vegan milk into a $10 billion business

Swedish oat-milk company Oatly went public on Thursday (May 20) at a $10 billion valuation, pricing its initial public offering at $17 per share. Oatly’s IPO is being closely watched as a measure of market interest in plant-based alternatives to dairy and meat, though the company also faces growing competition from multinational juggernauts like Nestlé (which recently launched a pea-milk drink called Wunda) and Unilever. A look at Oatly’s colorful history offers insight into how the brand’s offbeat reputation may help it take on the competition.