Froyo Chain 16 Handles Rolls Out Oatly Dairy-Free Soft Serve

Get excited all you plant-based froyo lovers. As of this week, you can now walk into 16 Handles and fill your cup with dairy-free Oatly soft serve at any of the chain's 32 locations nationwide. Then top that healthy oat-cream treat with any number of plant-based toppings. The first flavors to get their own handles are Iced Latte and Vanilla which made their debut on June 8th. More Oatly flavors will be swirling your way by July 6th when you can serve yourself Chai Tea and Chocolate, giving customers four soft-serve options to choose from.

“We’ve been expanding our non-dairy offerings for years,"16 Handles CEO Solomon Choi told VegOut. "So when the 16 Handles culinary team had the chance to work with our favorite oat milk brand, we jumped at the chance.”

This isn't the first time 16 Handles has offered up non-dairy flavors. Before the Oatly partnership, 16 Handles debuted two oat milk-based soft serves in Dreamboat Coconut and Chocolate Devotion flavors. Alongside the oat milk soft serves, 16 Handles added a cashew milk-based soft serve line in January 2019. The initial cashew milk line served a Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle flavor and offered a rotating vegan option on the 16th of each month through March. Now, the company’s partnership with Oatly marks the first time a froyo chain has incorporated Oatly into a new-to-the-market vegan soft serve.

“There’s a lot that 16 Handles and Oatly share," adds Choi, such as "commitments to quality, flavor innovation, sustainability... it’s really an ideal collaboration."

16 Handles also produces several other vegan options for its customers. Accompanying the oat-milk and cashew-milk soft serves, the chain features vegan sorbets, several vegan toppings, and a soy milk-based soft serve. The company has remained dedicated to catering to its vegan customers. The vegan group Capital Region Vegan Network (CRVN) plans to organize an ice cream social with 16 Handles at the East Greenbush, New York location on June 11th to celebrate the company’s commitment towards its vegan customers.

“We’re ecstatic to be working again with our friends at 16 handles, a long-time supporter of vegan soft serve and toppings,” CRVN Board member Erica Rose Thomas said. “This event featuring 16 Handles x Oatly speaks to the mass-market love of non-dairy ice cream alternatives and we expect that this will be a hit with everyone, not just those who live a vegan lifestyle.”

Oatly’s brand new vegan soft serve is currently only served at select locations across the United States. With its partnership with 16 Handles, it looks like the company is making moves to grow the distribution of its dairy-free soft serve. Recently, the oat milk brand closed a deal with multiple Major League Baseball stadiums to distribute its vegan soft serve, starting with Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, and Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL. Now, the oat milk company is working to bring its soft-serve product to more consumers outside of the stadium, so any cold dessert lover can purchase this dairy-free option.

Last month Oatly IPO'd on the NASDAQ at a price of $17 and the shares are now trading at above $26, having risen 30 percent in a month.