Untitled Oats was an oatmilk company that I, with the excellent Alex Baldwin, started in early 2020.
I conceived of the company whilst finishing my degree in Sustainable Development at the University of Edinburgh. The logic behind the company was not to get rich, but to answer a sustainability problem. The problem was found between two disparate groups: Scottish farmers who advocate local produce as a sustainability solution and Scottish vegans who advocate a plant-based diet as a sustainability solution. The problem is they are both correct.
However there is some mutual ground: oats. Add this observation to the startling discovery that oat milk is often imported across the sea to Scotland, the land of the oat, and a company was born.
Alex and I operated Untitled Oats from June 2020 through to its acquisition in April 2022. The business expanded from a kitchen operation to providing fresh oat milk on a regular basis to hundreds of customers and dozens of retail outlets across Scotland’s central belt. We were the first commercially available oat milk in Scotland and have encouraged growth in the industry – even going so far as establishing an Association to assist other fledgling producers.
In April 2022 we made the decision to sell our company and everything we knew to the Mackintosh family. With considerable investment, the company can now go on to providing Scottish oat milk at a much larger scale – multiplying the environmental benefits. Alex and I have continued working with the company, now named Mackintosh Oats Scotland, to facilitate its continued success.
Ultimately, Untitled Oats was a great learning exercise for both of us and it taught me valuable lessons in leadership, realism, and working with stainless steel.
Post by Callum McCadden. August 2022.
