A grant from Oatly helped Chrystal Holt and Brian Holt equip their Vermont roasting company, 1A Coffee, with solar power.
Oat milk company funds projects to promote green practices among grass-roots coffee businesses.
Oatly has opened applications for its Big Idea Grant for Coffee, an annual program designed to fund sustainability initiatives among small coffee businesses. The deadline is October 28.
The grant is open to U.S. businesses with 300 employees or fewer. Three categories of projects are eligible: sourcing, operations, and systems change. That means tackling sustainability in processes like coffee farming, packaging, roasting, transportation, waste management, nutrition access, social sustainability, and so on.
The project categories are modeled after Oatly’s own approaches to improving sustainability, but applicants may propose their own methods. Grants range from $500 to $100,000, and a total of up to $400,000 will be distributed during this round of the program.
An external review committee will assess applications based on criteria that are detailed on the grant application page. Social and economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, inspiration, execution, success tracking, and impact of the ideas will be taken into consideration. The applications selected in the first stage of the process will then move to an internal board for review. Oatly does not have a predetermined number of grant recipients.
Projects funded through the grant program are meant to be replicable. Oatly wants other businesses to learn from grant winners and contribute to building a more sustainable coffee industry.
A total of seven companies received grants through the Oatly program in 2021. Coffee roasters Three Keys Coffee in Houston, Texas and 1A Coffee in Wilmington, Vermont used the funding to adopt solar power. Junior’s Roasted Coffee, a micro-roaster in Portland, Oregon, launched a community-funded coffee model to support growers and educate coffee consumers. Build Coffee, a coffee shop in Chicago, Illinois, grew its free grocery delivery service to bring nutritious food to its neighborhood.
“What's unique about the Big Idea Grant for Coffee program is Oatly doesn't just issue grants and call it a day,” Krista Kane, director of coffee channel development, told STiR. “We go a step further, working with our grantees to share their projects and learnings with the larger industry over time to help ensure information about how to address climate change and run a sustainable business is becoming more and more open and accessible.”
The oat drink company releases an annual report on its climate footprint. In 2021, it reported that transportation and ingredients are the two main drivers of its corporate climate footprint. The company is looking for ways to partner with farmers to sustainably source ingredients. It is also attempting to address the climate impact of transportation. In June, the company expanded its electric truck network to North America for ground transportation.
The U.S.-listed Oatly Group AB (NASDAQ: OTLY), which calls itself "the world's original and largest" oat milk company, is based in Malmö, Sweden. With products available in more than 20 countries, the company reported $643.2 million in revenue in 2021.
Winners of the company’s 2022 Big Idea Grant for Coffee will be announced in December.