Ep 32: How Stuart Forsyth Parlayed the Great Oat Milk Shortage Into a $40M Business

How did a scrappy idea born in a London garage turn into one of the world’s most recognisable oat milk brands? From the early days of KeepCup to building the first shelf-stable cold brew, Stuart shares the hard truths about entrepreneurship in food and drink — wafer-thin margins, constant reinvention, and the sheer expense of creating a new category.

Their conversation dives into the evolution of plant-based beverages, the chaotic launch into the US market during the Great Oat Milk Shortage, and the role of timing, luck, and relentless work. Stuart is candid about investor relationships, the bruising challenges of scaling internationally, and why Minor Figures doesn't just sell oak milk — it sells attitude. And also why oat milk is the perfect pairing with coffee.

Key moments:

00:52 How creating a product that fits seamlessly into existing workflows, like KeepCup’s size matching disposable cups, can drive rapid adoption.

11:28 The virtues of launching with a “minimum lovable product” rather than a minimum viable one.

12:11 How commercial failure can still attract big players if you’re solving a technical problem no one else has cracked.

21:07 In beverage distribution, you often need to create demand first so that distributors are willing to carry you.

24:08 Proving product-market fit comes before scaling local production, even if international shipping is costly.

25:52 External shocks like tariffs can create operational drama, so resilient supply chains are essential.

27:54 Winning over industry tastemakers (like roasters) can cascade into broader adoption through their networks.

34:47 Investor partners who genuinely love the product often provide more support and better terms than purely financial backers.

39:50 Growth can overwhelm back-office systems, so prepare for scaling pain long before you need it.

49:59 New categories are extremely expensive to grow, so anchoring your product in a passionate community is critical.

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Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.