Good & Humble: New Zealand Oat Milk Startups Otis & All Good Merge

New Zealand-based oat milk makers Otis and All Good have joined forces to form a new entity to champion local growers and expand globally.

Otis and All Good, two of New Zealand’s best-known oat milk producers, have merged under a new business called Good & Humble.

The entity, which will see the two brands continue to operate separately, aims to leverage each company’s strengths to scale up production, ramp up innovation, and support local oat growers.

“By uniting our brands, we’re building a stronger foundation to deliver on these promises, advancing our shared mission of sustainability and local impact. This union strengthens our ability to deliver on those promises,” said All Good general manager Faye MacGregor.

“We are very excited to grow Good & Humble for many years to come and see what plant-powered adventures we can have along the way.”

Otis and All Good to target the globe

Otis was founded in 2018 by Tim Ryan and Chris Wilkie, and sells three flavours of its oat milk: Everyday, Chocolate and Barista. While it faced several manufacturing challenges at the beginning, pushing it to produce its oat milk in Sweden (with New Zealand-grown oats).

But in June this year, the company partnered with Free Flow Manufacturing to establish the nation’s first state-of-the-art oat milk factory in East Auckland, with a capacity of producing 50 million litres of its products every year.

All Good, meanwhile, has been around since 2008, established by brothers Chris and Matt Morrison and Simon Coley (who are also the founders of Karma Drinks). The company began as a Fairtrade banana business, before pivoting into plant-based milk in 2020. Its current lineup, sold under the Good Oat brand, includes Barista and Original oat milks, as well as a Barista coconut milk.

Like Otis, All Good initially produced its milks in Sweden, but brought its operations to New Zealand earlier this year. Its sales have grown by 71% annually since 2021, and totalled NZ$8M ($4.7M) in the 12 months to November 2023.

The merger will also pair Otis’s on-farm provenance and enzyme technology with All Good’s established export sales and distribution. One of Good & Humble’s key goals is to capitalise on both brands’ networks to expand internationally, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Otis’s oat milks are available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, and Malaysia, while All Good’s products can be found in cafés in South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

Addressing NZ dairy’s giant footprint

The merger will help All Good develop a wider range of plant-based products and grow its customer value, with Otis’s premium offering continuing to focus on oat milk that promotes South Island-grown oats.

“As we come together under Good & Humble, we create a future where our shared values and capabilities work together, enabling us to set a new benchmark in oat milk quality, sustainability, and innovation and export that to the world,” said Wilkie.

“We are playing against billion-dollar multinational brands; uniting with All Good means we can play smarter and harder. Our NPD engine will be market-leading,” he added.

Aside from provenance, the two companies are tackling a significant environmental issue in New Zealand. At 102kg per year, the country has one of the highest per capita dairy consumption rates in the world. The country is also the world’s largest exporter of dairy, with the industry responsible for one in every four export dollars the nation earns, contributing $11.3B to the economy in 2022-23.

But half of New Zealand’s emissions come from agriculture, three-quarters of which are a direct result of methane from livestock. In a 2022 survey, 51% of locals agreed that plant-based alternatives are better for the environment than dairy. However, 66% of consumers find dairy to be higher in nutritional value, with 78% calling it better value for money and 70% labelling it to be better for the national economy.

That said, according to Otis, oat milk is by far the most popular plant-based milk in New Zealand, making up 41% of the local market. It’s followed by almond milk (27%), soy milk (23%) and coconut milk (5%). Other brands in the oat milk space include Boring, Vitasoy, No Ordinary Oat, and Oatly, among others.

“We are very excited to grow Good & Humble for many years to come and see what plant-powered adventures we can have along the way,” said Wilkie.