Why you shouldn’t completely shrug off those millennial trends
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In 2018, New York City faced a shortage of oat milk, a plant-based alternative to the usual stuff from cows that’s become popular in major cities. People were reportedly devastated as they were forced to consider regular milk for their coffee instead of the oat-based product, and sellers on Amazon took the chance to drive up the price tag. The entire situation was lambasted by Twitter pundits and media alike, with folks blaming hipsters and the Guardian quipping, “Can Brooklyn survive its oat-milk shortage?”
It was crazy. It was absurd. And it…was kind of onto something.
The traditional dairy industry is facing a reckoning as the rise of plant-based alternatives have cut into sales. The nation’s largest milk producer, Dean Foods, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, and one of the oldest producers, Borden Dairy Co., followed in May. Now the space is reshuffling, with Dairy Farmers of America acquiring Dean Foods for $433 million and private equity firms KKR and Capitol Peak Partners buying Borden.
And on Wednesday, Perfect Day, a food tech startup producing animal-free dairy proteins through fermentation, announced that it had expanded its Series C round to $300 million (!), with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s investment group Thematic Investing leading a $50 million tranche.
What makes Perfect Day especially interesting: The company isn’t seeking to find a plant-based alternative to dairy. It says its proteins are molecularly identical to those produced by cows, per my colleague, Beth Kowitt, leaving the same taste.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: lucinda.shen@fortune.com