Founder Of The Week: Carl Hopwood

• Carl Hopwood is the founder of Oato, the UK’s first fresh oat milk brand, combining his chemistry background and software engineering experience to create a product that is fresh, sustainable, and locally produced.
• He is driven by solving real consumer problems, focusing on taste, quality and accessibility, ensuring that plant-based alternatives meet the same standards as traditional dairy.
• Carl is hands-on and resilient, having personally navigated scaling challenges, logistics and production hurdles, while emphasising the importance of persistence, process optimisation, and building a strong team.
• He defines success as creating meaningful, sustainable impact, staying true to his vision, and making fresh oat milk widely available, while continuously innovating and listening closely to customer feedback.

Tell Me About Yourself and Oato

I’m Carl Hopwood, founder of Oato. I studied chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and spent years working as a software engineer before starting Oato in 2019. Oato is the UK’s first fresh oat milk, made from British oats and delivered chilled, just like traditional dairy milk.

At the time, all oat milks were long-life, and I felt there was a big opportunity to create something that simply tasted better. Today, Oato is stocked by major retailers and delivered nationwide, having sold over 30 million pints of fresh oat milk.

What Inspired You To Start Oato, and What Problem Were You Trying To Solve?

The inspiration came from frustration as a consumer. I loved oat milk but couldn’t understand why it was always long-life when fresh dairy milk was the norm. From a chemistry perspective, I knew oats could be processed differently to improve flavour.

The problem I wanted to solve was simple: taste. Fresh milk tastes better, and plant-based alternatives should be no different. Oato was born from the idea that oat milk deserved the same standards as dairy – fresh, chilled, and locally produced.

What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge So Far, and How Did You Overcome It?

Scaling production has been the biggest challenge. Making oat milk at a small scale is one thing, but producing it fresh, safely, and consistently at volume is far more complex.

Early on, we faced issues with facilities, pricing, and logistics – at one point, I even got an HGV licence myself to keep deliveries moving. We overcame these challenges by building our own scalable production site and focusing relentlessly on process optimisation. My engineering background helped, but persistence mattered most.

Can You Describe a Pivotal Moment That Significantly Shaped the Direction of Oato?

Getting our first national supermarket listing with Waitrose was transformative. Until then, we’d focused solely on milk rounds, which were working brilliantly. But Waitrose taking a chance on us validated that there was an appetite for fresh oat milk in retail. It showed we could reach people in flats, students in halls and inner-city shoppers who couldn’t access milk rounds.

That opened the floodgates – suddenly, we weren’t just a milk round brand, we were building a movement to make fresh, sustainable oat milk accessible to everyone. It changed our entire growth trajectory.

How Do You Define Success?

For your business: Success is getting Oato into 50% of UK fridges. But it’s not just about volume – it’s about doing it the right way. That means maintaining our sustainability commitments, supporting British farmers, keeping production local, and offering an affordable, genuinely fresh alternative.

As a founder: Personally, success is building something meaningful from scratch, staying true to the original vision, and proving that a challenger brand can compete with global players by doing things properly.

What Advice Would You Give To Someone Thinking About Launching Their Own Startup?

Start by identifying a real problem people actually care about, then don’t wait for everything to be perfect before launching. I was conducting experiments in my kitchen, not knowing exactly how to get to the end product, but I tested early with real customers. Those 1,500 Facebook responses taught me more than months of planning would have. Build your pipeline before you’ve perfected your product – it forces you to learn fast. Use your existing skills, whether that’s sales, technical knowledge, or something else entirely. And embrace failure as part of the process.

What’s Next for Oato? Any Exciting Developments We Should Watch Out For?

We’re focused on expanding our product range, growing distribution, and continuing to scale production sustainably here in the UK. Innovation is still at the heart of what we do – whether that’s new flavours, improved processes, or reducing environmental impact even further. The long-term goal is simple: make fresh oat milk accessible to as many people as possible without compromising on quality.

Want to be featured as TechRound’s Founder of the Week? Find out more about this weekly feature and how to get involved here.

Founder’s 5 with Carl Hopwood

We wanted to know a bit more about the man behind Oato, so we’ve put together the exclusive Founders’ 5 with Carl Hopwood.

Favourite business tool

Customer feedback. Whether it’s a photo of someone enjoying their breakfast with Oato or direct messages about new product ideas, nothing beats hearing directly from the people who love what we make. That immediate connection keeps you grounded and tells you what actually matters.

One lesson you learned the hard way?

You can’t do everything yourself. Early on, I was hands-on with every aspect – production, sales, distribution, you name it. But scaling from my kitchen to a 55,000 sq ft facility taught me that building a great team is essential. Now I’m fortunate to work with brilliant people who make growth possible.

One future trend you’re watching?

The return of reusable packaging systems in retail. We’ve proven it works with milk rounds – our bottles are reused 28 times on average. I believe we’ll see a broader shift away from single-use packaging across all categories. Consumers want it, it’s better for the planet, and the infrastructure already exists in many cases.

One quote you live by

“Progress happens when you act.” I’m not sure who said it first, but it’s become my personal motto. In business, overthinking and hesitation kill momentum before it even starts.

One book/podcast you recommend

Anything about Yvon Chouinard and how he built Patagonia. His approach to building a brand that stands for responsibility, quality, and environmental stewardship whilst remaining commercially successful is exactly what I aspire to.

Want to be featured as TechRound’s Founder of the Week? Know someone who deserves to be recognised as a founder making waves in the startup landscape? Find out more about this weekly feature and how to get involved here.