Oatly, Carvel ice cream partnership boosts stock

Oatly and Carvel said on Monday that they will partner to add oat milk-based items at the chain’s ice cream stores nationwide.

The agreement is a boon for Oatly, which has struggled to recapture the enthusiasm investors had for the plant-based milk company when it made its stock market debut in 2021. Its shares jumped about 7% in Monday trading.

Oatly, a Swedish company with a roughly $657 million market cap, saw its stock trade around $1.12 a share Monday. The company’s financial performance has repeatedly disappointed Wall Street since its initial public offering, erasing its share value since the day it opened trading at $22.12 per share in 2021.

Carvel, a chain known for its soft serve, will add five new plant-based desserts to its menu as part of the partnership. The Oatly flavors will be available at nearly 300 of Carvel’s stores in 18 states.

The Oatly products will include strawberry soft serve and scooped cookies and cream and chocolate peanut butter flavors, along with cakes.

Oatly said the partnership will help the ice cream shop chain serve people with dairy allergies or dietary restrictions. More consumers have embraced plant-based milk in recent years, and oat milk has started to make up a larger share of that segment.

Jim Salerno, chief brand officer at Carvel, added in a statement that “Oatly is the latest way we are breaking through to bring our guests a new offering we know there is a lot of excitement behind.”

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