Oat milk is going public. Sweden’s Oatly is reportedly considering an IPO at a valuation of as much as $5 billion. Investors include:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Funken" aria-label="Emoji: Funken">Oprah Winfrey
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Funken" aria-label="Emoji: Funken">Jay-Z
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✨" title="Funken" aria-label="Emoji: Funken">Natalie Portman

Is this the end of semi-skimmed milk? https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

The dairy industry appears to be going vegan, too:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌱" title="Setzling" aria-label="Emoji: Setzling">Canadian dairy giant Saputo is acquiring a plant-milk business
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌱" title="Setzling" aria-label="Emoji: Setzling">Arla announced its own oat-milk brand
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌱" title="Setzling" aria-label="Emoji: Setzling">Danone spent $10 billion in 2017 buying plant-based WhiteWaves Food https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

Part of this is simply chasing consumer demand.

Seeking a source of tasty fats with a smaller carbon footprint than the cattle industry is a justification for consumers to switch, and self-diagnosed lactose intolerance appears to be on the rise https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

There’s a better reason for the dairy industry to chase the vegan market, however:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💵" title="Banknote mit Dollar-Zeichen" aria-label="Emoji: Banknote mit Dollar-Zeichen">Dollars http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

Only a quarter of the milk produced on farms ends up being sold as a liquid, with the vast majority turned into:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧀" title="Käsestück" aria-label="Emoji: Käsestück">Cheese
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥞" title="Pfannkuchen" aria-label="Emoji: Pfannkuchen">Butter
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍼" title="Babyflasche" aria-label="Emoji: Babyflasche">Infant formula
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥛" title="Glas Milch" aria-label="Emoji: Glas Milch">Yoghurt http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

Those manufactured goods are a far more profitable business for most dairy processors.

Fresh milk requires fiendishly complex supply chains capable of delivering consumers a highly perishable product from living animals http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

Cheese, butter and other goods last longer, can easily be manufactured on demand and can be heavily branded.

In that way, non-milk dairy products have a lot in common with plant-based milks http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flagge von China" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von China">In China, plant milks have about a third of the combined market for milk and its alternatives, but it’s declining.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">In the U.S., the plant-based share is rising fast to nearly 17% of the combined market http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

All the growth in the dairy industry these days is in things other than milk. From 2000 to 2018, this is how U.S. consumption changed:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔺" title="Nach oben zeigendes rotes Dreieck" aria-label="Emoji: Nach oben zeigendes rotes Dreieck">Butter 51%
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔺" title="Nach oben zeigendes rotes Dreieck" aria-label="Emoji: Nach oben zeigendes rotes Dreieck">Cheese 57%
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔺" title="Nach oben zeigendes rotes Dreieck" aria-label="Emoji: Nach oben zeigendes rotes Dreieck">Yogurt 138%

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔻" title="Nach unten zeigendes rotes Dreieck" aria-label="Emoji: Nach unten zeigendes rotes Dreieck">Milk and ice cream saw declines http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

From that perspective, the dairy industry would be better off if milk-drinking continued to decline and people switched to plant-based alternatives.

So don’t be surprised to see milk producers increasingly going vegan-ish http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...

Just don’t kid yourself that you’re cutting your carbon footprint much by opting for an almond latte.

The amount of milk coming out of cows is still rising -- and it’s the butter on your toast and the cheese on your pizza that’s driving it http://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7 ">https://bloom.bg/2FL3DJ7&q...