From the back of a van, to outstanding in our field!
Exciting news from our 2023-24 Organic Oat Trial at Lilybank Station!
With thanks to the Otis One Percent Fund, and all of you drinkers of our products, we were able to fund an organic breeding trial, and the results are in!
In partnership with Plant Research NZ Ltd we evaluated 40 different oat breeding lines and found six varieties that outperformed the current commercial variety in both grain yield and milling quality.
The Gardyne variety (sounds familiar?) a new early-maturing variety, had stronger yields and showed exceptional performance, facing hot dry conditions, and excelling in weed suppression.
We committed to organics back in 2021, creating NZ’s first organic oat milk grown in NZ. An unbelievable amount of mahi went into setting up the organic certified ecosystem so we could develop, grow, mill manufacture and sell a high quality, 3 ingredient oat milk. For us at Otis this is our WHY. Being an active member and adding value back to our oat industry.
We thank you all for your continued support of our brand and products, we couldn't do this work without you.
What about glyphosate?
Zero. Zilch. Nadda. None. Thats what the independent testing said. This is great news for oats (and for you, the consumer of oats and oat milk).
A recent lab report by grassroots campaign No More Glyphosate NZ, tested six oat products, including Harraways Oats, and to their surprise, all 6 came back reading no detectable residual glyphosate.
This is testament to the strict ‘zero tolerance’ approach the collective Oat Industry Group and all our farmers take toward the use of this spray anywhere need human food. Its simply a no-no.
Two big thumbs up from the team at Otis, we’re proud to work with farmers who really care about their crops, the land and the future of growing.
Note: we acknowledge not all oat crops are treated this way in NZ, with a lot of animal feed grain crops not held to such high standards.
The future of oat milk is organic New Zealand!
