Oat milk lovers, we have news for you. Oatly will be closing down its Singapore facility after three years in operation.
Here’s what you need to know about it.
Oatly Closing Down Singapore Production Facility After Three Years in Operation
On Wednesday (18 December), Swedish drink company Oatly announced that it would be closing its Senoko production facility in Singapore. Oatly had opened the oat milk production plant in a partnership with Yeo’s back in 2021.
Yes, you read that right — Yeo’s, as in the Singapore food and beverage company that produces the chrysanthemum tea your parents bulk-buy every Chinese New Year.
But the million-dollar question is this: why is Oatly suddenly closing down its Singapore facility?
According to the oat milk company, the facility’s closure is meant to improve Oatly’s “future cost structure and reduce future capital expenditure needs”. In other words, to improve capital and cost efficiencies.
In any event, the Singapore production facility is not the only production facility Oatly has in Asia. The drink company also opened a production facility in China in 2021.
The Chinese facility has a much higher capacity than the Singapore one — it produces about 150 million litres of oat-based products annually, trumping the Singapore production facility’s 60 million litres.
Wow… Who’s drinking all that oat milk?
“On behalf of the entire Oatly team, I want to express my deep gratitude to the team at the Singapore plant for the work they have done over the years,” the Oatly CEO Jean-Christophe Flatin said.
34 Oatly Employees and 25 Yeo’s Employees Affected By Closure
To all you oat milk lovers, life goes on as usual lah — you can still get your oat milk, but it just won’t be produced in Singapore.
However, the same can’t be said for employees involved with Oatly’s Singapore production facility. Life is going to be far from “usual”.
According to CNA, 34 Oatly employees wil be affected by the facility’s closure.
But that’s not all — if you recall, Yeo’s is also involved in Oatly’s manufacturing operations in Singapore. According to ST, 25 Yeo’s employees will be laid off as a result of the facility’s closure.
This brings the total number of employees affected by Oatly’s Singapore production facility closure to 59 employees.
Oatly’s spokesperson shared that outplacement assistance and training will be offered to its affected employees. As for the affected Yeo’s employees, they will receive severance packages based on their salary and years of service.
Yeo’s also added that while 25 employees will be laid off, 16 other Yeo’s employees who were directly involved with Oatly’s operations were successfully resassigned to other roles within Yeo’s.
The Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) has also shared that while Oatly is non-unionised, the FDAWU would support affected union members where required.
Such support includes leveraging on NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute to provide job matching and career advisory services.
As people always say lah — when one door closes, another opens.
Affected members may also contact FDAWU for assistance.
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