Factories that make processed foods need lots of heat — and most burn gas to supply it. Companies like Oatly are grappling with how to decarbonize instead.
Anca Gavris slipped on a blue hairnet and white lab coat, then yanked open a heavy door, revealing a labyrinth of silver pipes and bulky tanks on the production floor. For all its steely, sterile machinery, the room felt warm and cozy — like huddling over a bowl of steaming oatmeal or sinking into an oat-filled bath.
Gavris is the site director for Oatly’s factory in Millville, New Jersey, where the Swedish company produces a thick liquid base that will later become oat milk. In 2019, she helped open the processing plant — Oatly’s first outside of Europe — to satisfy rising demand for the creamy dairy alternative among coffee-shop baristas and plant-milk lovers across North America.
These are not your everyday operational engineering projects. They’re really focused around technology and energy.
Jason Bell, Managing Director, Strategy & Implementation - Americas