Brooklyn's Oat Milk Shortage Is Rocking The Hipster Community
Brooklyn cafés and grocery stores are in crisis mode. Oat milk, the new king of the mylks — milk not made from animal byproducts — has seemed to run out overnight. The sweet, frothy dairy milk substitute has been ragingly popular in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago over the past couple of months thanks to cool oat milk brand Oatly. However, Brooklynites have been chugging the environmentally-friendly, plant-based milk faster than Oatly can produce it, and it's an udder disaster.
According to The New Yorker, an Oatly shortage has already occurred twice before: in Sweden and the U.K. when the beverage was first released. "There's a tension between speed and quality here," Oatly's general manager Mike Messersmith told the publication. "We can't just go to a manufacturer and say, 'Here's a bucket of oats, go and make oat milk!' This was all too much and too soon." The Daily Meal has reached out to Oatly for a comment on the matter.
But now that they've had a taste, the good hipsters of Brooklyn want more. A lack of readily available Oatly has caused an all-out meltdown via social media from people in the area.
Seems to be another @OatlyUS shortage in NYC, and this is NOT how I want to start my week... 😩😩😩
— Red (@erinred) August 6, 2018
just said "oh no brooklyn is running out of oat milk" to a girl and she said "what? im not listening"
— world renowned cryptozoologist (@sexualjumanji) August 15, 2018
I'm gonna start crying 😭 😢... let us please at least buy it ONLINE!! @OatlyUS pic.twitter.com/CkpiccH5aP
— Jaime Saenz (@iemiajsaenz) August 6, 2018
Even comedian Chelsea Peretti got in on the action, joking, "Have u seen the new docu series about the oat milk shortage – i binged it dude!!!!!!"
HAVE U SEEN THE NEW DOCU SERIES ABOUT THE OAT MILK SHORTAGE – I BINGED IT DUDE!!!!!!
— Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti) August 15, 2018
However, the Swedish brand has been vocal on social media telling concerned oat milk devotees that it will be back in stock at Whole Foods and in cafés soon. "We're sending regular re-stocks to our local distributor, so you should see us back on Whole Foods shelves soon. We'll have more Barista Edition available online within a couple of weeks, too," the brand wrote.
Don't cry, Jaime! We're sending regular re-stocks to our local distributor, so you should see us back on Whole Foods shelves soon. We'll have more Barista Edition available online within a couple of weeks, too.
— OatlyUS (@OatlyUS) August 7, 2018
Can't live without mylk? Check out these vegan alternatives so good you won't miss meat or dairy.