Yale Hospitality scoops up new sorbet offerings following Oatly supply issues
Branford and Saybrook dining halls’ Oatly soft serve has been replaced with pomegranate raspberry and chocolate fudge sorbet, after supply chain issues sourcing the product.

Liza Kaufman, Staff Photographer
Students craving a swirl of Oatly soft serve in Branford and Saybrook dining halls are out of luck — at least for now. Due to supply chain issues and “road bumps” in sourcing the Oatly product, Yale Hospitality has replaced the soft serve with sorbet offerings.
The vanilla and chocolate Oatly ice cream — a non-dairy alternative to traditional ice cream produced by a Swedish food company — has been replaced by two flavors of sorbet: “pomegranate raspberry” and “chocolate fudge.” The new flavors are currently only available in Branford and Saybrook. However, “wild berry” sorbet is served in each of the 12 remaining residential colleges, according to the Yale Hospitality website.
“When I first tried it, I had such a pleasant reaction, you could see it on my face,” said Keely Balfour ’27, adding “[My friends] were commenting on it and I was like, guys — I was actually being so dramatic about it — I have been single all my life, but I think this tastes like love.”
During recent years, oat milks’ popularity has increased substantially. According to USA Today reporting, in 2023, the global oat milk industry was valued at over $1.5 billion, with this number predicted to increase over the next decade to $5.6 billion.
Teagan Sahli ’28 noted that although she was initially disappointed about the change, her friends recommended that she try the sorbet and she enjoyed the pomegranate raspberry flavor. She has not yet tried the chocolate fudge.
“I’ve heard mixed reactions, but mostly all positive. All my friends are like we always get dessert now because it’s always good,” said Sahli. “But I did hear from someone the other day that he said that he thought it tasted too artificial.”
Nardeen Gebraeel ’28 echoed these remarks. However, she noted that while the sorbet flavor was somewhat artificial, it did not taste excessively sweet and seemed “fresh.”
According to a Yale Hospitality representative, the University’s procurement team is “actively engaged” in working with vendors to examine next steps for sourcing the Oatly soft serve.
Balfour noted that after a conversation with her suitemates, she hoped the dining halls would offer both the new sorbet flavors and Oatly, although acknowledged that she was not certain that this would be practical.
According to the National Institutes of Health, it is estimated that around 68 percent of the world’s population has lactose malabsorption.