If you’re a plant milk nerd like us, you’ve probably stumbled upon the controversy surrounding popular oat milk brand Oatly in recent years.
Despite its creamy texture that consumers have come to love, Oatly has been the subject of heated debate around the issues of additives, fortification, questionable marketing, and right-wing political ties.
Many oat milk fans who have been following the story have decided to opt for alternatives to Oatly.
If you’re looking to try some other brands, here are a few that have become our favorites. Most are organic and non-GMO certified, and many are also kosher certified.
We hope you’ll love them as much as we do.
Best Oatly Alternatives
Check out our favorite Oatly alternatives available in the USA.
1. Califia Farms
Califia Farms organic oat milk uses 100% organic oats and is free of gums, stabilizers, and other additives. Their original flavor has only three ingredients:
- Water
- Oats
- Sea salt
Other flavors include vanilla, zero sugar, and barista blend.
They also offer a variety of other products such as almond milks, creamers, coffees, and seasonal specials like holiday nog and peppermint mocha latte. However, some of those have less-than-stellar ingredients, so read the label!
Beyond the quality ingredients used in their organic oat milk, we also love Califia for their commitment to the environment and passion for resilient agriculture, climate solutions, and circular economy.
2. Willa's
Founded by two sisters who were tired of conventional plant-based milks, Willa’s takes ‘natural’ to the next level by using the whole oat–something rarely done in the oat milk industry.
As a result, their product is lower in sugars and contains all the healthy prebiotic fiber (which promotes both digestion and mental health) and protein found in whole oats.
Oatly consumers who want to make the switch might have a hard time finding another good chocolate oat milk.
Luckily, Willa’s offers a potentially better alternative: dark chocolate oat milk sweetened with maple sugar.
If you're interested in learning more about Willa's, check out our interview with one of the co-founders here!
3. Elmhurst 1925
If you’re from the east coast, you might have heard of Elmhurst…the dairy producer.
Elmhurst dairy started in 1925 and stayed a family business for over 90 years, even becoming New York City’s last dairy operation.
They finally closed their doors in 2016, only to surprise the world by re-emerging in 2017 as a plant milk company dedicated to human health and the environment.
Elmhurst represents an inspiring example of how a company’s values can progress and evolve over time.
In addition to oat milk, Elmhurst’s new catalog boasts an impressive array of unique types and flavors of nut milks. Sample their cashew, hazelnut, or, walnut milk for a treat.
4. Forager
This company’s mission is to improve both human and planetary health, and this vision shines through in their products.
Forager’s oat milk is non-GMO, organic, and free of additives. The slightly sweet flavor makes it a great addition to coffee, yogurt, or recipes for baked goods that call for oat milk.
In addition to oat milk, Forager also makes cashew milk, bottled shakes and smoothies, and vegan sour creams, yogurts, and cheeses.
They’re especially proud of their cashews, which they source from small farm partners in Vietnam and the Ivory Coast. There, the cashews are grown sustainably without irrigation water and are harvested by hand.
5. JOI
JOI stands for Just One Ingredient, a name that alludes to the fact that all of their products are made only with natural, whole ingredients.
What makes them special?
Rather than pre-made milks, JOI is known for their bases.
They provide jars and packs of ready-to-make mixes for oat milk, almond milk, cashew milk, hemp milk…the list goes on.
Some of their bases include combinations of various plant milk bases designed to maximize both taste and nutritional content. Oat / almond and cashew / almond are two of their most popular blends.
One of the advantages of selling bases rather than the milks themselves is that costs for the customer are far lower.
One quart of JOI’s almond and Cashew milk is only $2.85. That’s around 50% or more savings when compared to many other small, artisanal oat milk brands.
6. Malibu Mylk
If you’re willing to branch out from oat milk but you still want something that will match Oatly’s standard for creaminess, you’ll find a welcome alternative in these flax-based milks.
Made from whole ground flax seeds and blended with oats, one glass of Malibu Mylk’s flax + oat flavor contains only 50 calories; compare that to the 120 calories present in one glass of conventional oat milk.
Like many of these brands, Malibu Mylk has a strong commitment to human health and the environment.
Flax is rich in omega 3’s, fiber, and protein, which means that Malibu Mylk is great for the skin, gut, and overall health and vitality.
They have even elected to sweeten their ‘slightly sweetened’ flavor with organic dates rather than sugar.
And founder Brittany Fuisz is very proud of the fact that their milk doesn’t contribute to water depletion, as the only water input needed to grow healthy, strong, nutritious flax is natural rainfall.
7. Malk
Malk makes simple, additive-free, USDA-certified oat and almond milks with minimalist ingredient lists.
Because their list of ingredients is so short, their flavors are not overpowering.
Therefore, their products lend themselves well to a multitude of uses, such as in smoothies, hot cocoa, coffee, cereal, as a milk substitute in baking, and our favorite: “malk” shakes.
This company is known for its integrity and is particularly proud of its transparency around its process and ingredients.
Malk is committed to sourcing the cleanest ingredients on the market, and their customers maintain that Malk milk is well worth the slightly higher price tag.
Best Barista Style Oatly Alternatives
Barista milks are specially formulated for use in coffee-based beverages.
They're designed to steam and froth easily, to maintain their stability in the face of heat and acidity, and to withstand the high temperatures needed for steaming without altering the taste.
Although some of the brands above provide tasty barista milks, we’ve narrowed our preferences down to the top two.
8. Minor Figures
Minor Figures’ barista oat contains only naturally occurring sugars, which means that you are completely in charge of the sugar content in your coffee.
This company also offers a light version of their barista oat, a barista chai concentrate, and a large selection of coffee products.
Some of our favorites are the oat mocha, oat matcha latte, and the oat chai latte.
9. Myracle Kitchen
This brand’s barista milk features a deliciously unique blend of ingredients: oats, coconut cream, fava bean protein, and nutritional yeast, among others.
Their other one-of-a-kind blends, whole mylk and low-fat mylk, also utilize delectable ingredients not commonly found in other plant milks, such as brown rice syrup and hemp protein.
Consumers who want to try something different that packs an extra punch of both flavor and nutritional benefit will love Myracle Kitchen.
Best Oatly Alternatives in The UK
Think the US-based brands above sound delicious, but you’re located all the way in the UK?
We’ve got you covered.
While some of those brands are available in the UK as well, here are our top two Oatly alternatives specifically for all you thirsty folks across the pond.
10. Plenish
Missing the creaminess of Oatly?
Plenish oat m*lk is well-known for its creamy texture.
For those interested in expanding their horizons, Plenish’s range also includes cashew, hazelnut, almond and cacao milks in addition to a range of other healthy drinks such as ginger immunity shots, turmeric defense shots, and more.
They also provide customers with everything they need for easy, intermediate, and advanced juice and protein cleanses.
Despite the fact that there might not be as many options available in the UK as in the US, Plenish’s huge product range largely makes up for the deficit.
11. Rude Health
Rude Health boasts organic, thickener-free oat milks with the slogan “drink to avoid missing oat”.
They started out making homemade muesli at their kitchen table in 2005, and have since gone on to produce a unique range of dairy-free, all-natural foods and beverages.
Their 5 grain 5 seed porridge, chickpea and lentil cornitas, and multigrain crackers piqued our interest, as did their brown rice drink and their whole selection of other plant milks.
Sustainability is a major focus for Rude Health. They’re extremely picky about both their packaging and how they source ingredients.
Their almonds, for example, are grown in rain-rich Sicily in order to save water, and their oats are grown on small farms.
They don’t use palm oil, 88% of their packaging comes from recycled materials, and 5% of their profits go to charity.
Rude Health is a choice consumers can feel good about.
There Are Plenty of Oatly Alternatives
In the world of plant milk controversy, passions run high and debates turn heated (and frothed) when it comes to Oatly.
If you’re down to try something different, you won’t regret broadening your horizons with some of the exceptional offerings above–no matter how you feel about Oatly.
We’re positive you’ll find at least one plant milk producer in our list that matches your taste and values.
