How Microsoft and PwC accelerated Oatly’s sustainability journey 

Oatly: A sustainable food company powered by innovation and data 

Founded in Sweden in the 1990s, Oatly has grown into a global leader in the plant-based dairy alternatives market, recognized across more than 20 countries for its oat-based products and its mission to drive sustainable change in the food industry. Committed to reducing its environmental impact further, Oatly has the ambition to reduce its climate footprint per liter by 40 percent by 2030 and align that ambition with a 1.5°C climate pathway. In addition, Oatly reports on a comprehensive set of sustainability metrics around four interconnected pillars: Climate, Nature, People and Nutrition. To accelerate these efforts, the company has invested in digital solutions that not only enhance transparency, but also help to embed sustainability into daily decision-making, ensuring it delivers meaningful impact for Oatly and its stakeholders.

Tackling reporting challenges in Oatly’s sustainability journey 

With a focus on sustainability, Oatly has long been committed to driving change in the global food system and reducing the industry’s climate footprint. To continue delivering on this promise to its stakeholders, the company recognised the need to strengthen its ability to manage and act on sustainability data in a more proactive and integrated way. While growing regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations for transparent reporting added urgency, they ultimately supported Oatly’s broader ambition: to move beyond reporting alone and embed sustainability insights into everyday decision-making—keeping the company at the forefront of sustainable transformation.  

Previously, Oatly managed its sustainability data through a combination of software tools and spreadsheets, relying heavily on manual processes. While this approach served its purpose in the early stages, it became increasingly difficult to scale reporting, ensure full traceability, and respond efficiently to evolving regulatory frameworks—such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)—and growing stakeholder expectations.

The fragmented setup also made it challenging to embed sustainability insights into everyday decision-making, limiting the company’s ability to drive proactive and meaningful change. Recognizing that sustainability could no longer be managed in silos or spreadsheets, Oatly set out to find a more integrated, and future-ready solution. To support this transition, Oatly collaborated with PwC Sweden to identify a scalable and robust approach to managing sustainability data—one that not only ensures regulatory compliance but also enables comprehensive tracking across Oatly’s sustainability metrics. The goal was to strengthen transparency and build trust with consumers, investors, internal teams, and other stakeholders, while embedding sustainability into everyday decision-making. 

Building the foundation for continuous sustainability reporting 

Oatly selected PwC Sweden based on the long-trusted relationship built through previous collaborations and a shared understanding of what it takes to turn sustainability ambition into action. With a clear goal of making sustainability a defining element of its brand impact and delivering on that promise to customers, Oatly was looking for a partner who could help underpin its business model with reliable, data-driven insights. The combination of strategic guidance, deep understanding of Oatly’s business environment, and the ability to implement scalable, adaptable technology ultimately positioned us as the trusted advisors to support this transformation. 

Over the past 18 months, PwC Sweden has worked closely with Oatly’s team to develop a solution capable of streamlining the company’s complex sustainability data flows. What began as a whiteboard session with Oatly’s sustainability lead evolved into an agile transformation initiative. Faced with fragmented systems and heavy manual workloads, PwC Sweden delivered a forward-looking, integrated solution built on Microsoft Sustainability Manager (MSM). MSM’s extensibility allowed the team to tailor the platform to Oatly’s unique needs, while PwC’s sustainability professionals enabled alignment with CSRD and supported proactive, day-to-day sustainability management. 

By leveraging Oatly’s existing core systems and enhancing data integration capabilities, we helped the organization create a more efficient, transparent and future-ready sustainability reporting landscape. 

Creating adaptive solutions 

Oatly successfully established a future-proof sustainability solution that goes beyond simply meeting regulatory compliance. By leveraging the evolving product roadmap of Microsoft and integrating seamlessly with various technology stacks, Oatly gained the flexibility to address both technical and business challenges without relying solely on fixed functionalities. This scalable and adaptable approach has transformed their sustainability data management into a true business enabler, one that empowers teams with the insights needed to continuously deliver on their sustainability promise to stakeholders while staying agile in a rapidly changing landscape. 

Forming a dynamic digital ecosystem 

This project marked a significant milestone in Oatly’s sustainability journey, with the implementation of Microsoft Sustainability Manager  to consolidate and automate sustainability data processes. The solution replaced fragmented spreadsheets with a centralised, real-time platform that enhances data accuracy, transparency, and traceability across Oatly’s global operations.

PwC Sweden provided strategic guidance and technical expertise, following a comprehensive framework that ensured seamless integration and scalability. The collaboration resulted in a future-ready system that enables Oatly to manage sustainability data with greater confidence and agility. Beyond streamlining current reporting needs, this digital ecosystem lays the foundation for ongoing innovation—embedding sustainability into daily decision-making and unlocking broader business opportunities that extend well beyond compliance.

Driving success through partnership and trust 

Oatly’s challenge went beyond solving a technical upgrade—it required a deep level of collaboration, shared commitment, and mutual trust. The complexity of sustainability reporting, combined with evolving regulatory demands and the need for real-time insights, meant that a purely technical fix wouldn’t be enough. What was needed was a holistic solution that could bring together people, processes, and technology.

By combining innovative digital tools with strategic advisory support, Oatly was able to restructure and streamline its sustainability reporting. This not only addressed immediate compliance and operational needs but also unlocked new opportunities for data-driven decision-making and long-term business value.

The project was carried out through collaboration, with PwC Sweden contributing strategic and technical expertise to support Oatly's sustainability ambitions. The teams co-created a solution that is not only fit for today’s challenges but also adaptable for tomorrow’s possibilities. 

Credible, compliant, future-ready 

Oatly’s commitment to transparency and sustainability reporting has been significantly strengthened through its collaboration with PwC Sweden. By implementing a scalable and user-friendly digital solution, the company has transformed how it manages sustainability data. Manual processes and fragmented systems have been replaced with a centralised, structured platform that enables accurate, transparent, and timely reporting aligned with evolving regulatory requirements. This transformation empowers Oatly’s teams to act more proactively on data insights, embedding sustainability into daily decision-making rather than treating it as a separate reporting task. It marks a strategic shift—positioning sustainability as a core lever for business performance and innovation.

Together with PwC Sweden, Oatly has laid the foundation for a dynamic sustainability approach that can evolve with the pace of the business and the expectations of its stakeholders. Looking ahead, Oatly envisions an increasingly AI-enabled future, where tools like Microsoft Copilot will allow users to effortlessly access and apply sustainability data to support business needs, supplier engagement, and strategic planning. This next step in Oatly’s digital sustainability journey will make data management more intuitive, responsive, and impactful—keeping the company at the forefront of sustainable innovation.