Paying extra for plant milks could be a thing of the past as Tim Hortons, Dutch Bros Coffee and Scooter's Coffee end surcharge following Starbucks' lead
As the popularity of oat, almond, and soy milk continues to soar, coffee chains across the US are making it free for customers to swap cow’s milk for plant milks.
The industry trend to charge customers extra for choosing plant milks in hot drinks may finally be on its way out as major coffee chains continue to announce new policies that make the likes of oat and soy free of charge.
In the US, Starbucks made its customers pay a ~70¢ surcharge for oat, soy, almond, and coconut milk. Such a charge has typically been common at chains and independent coffee houses across the country.
But climate groups and plant-based food organizations have long campaigned against the surcharge, labeling it as unfair and saying that it discourages customers from choosing more sustainable, animal-free food choices.
Starbucks finally announced late last year that it will end its plant milk surcharge, with customers in the US and Canada now able to substitute cow’s milk for plant-based milk including soy, oat, almond, and coconut completely free of charge.
As the world’s largest coffee chain and a key player in industry trends, Starbucks’ decision has now inspired others to follow suit.
This year has already seen multiple similar announcements from other major coffee chains.
Among them are Dutch Bros, which ended the plant-milk upcharge in January. The fast-growing brand also announced the opening of its 1,000th US location this month, making it one of the largest coffee chains in the US.
Also ditching the surcharge is Tim Hortons, which is one of the largest coffee chains in the world with more than 3,000 locations in Canada and nearly 700 in the US.
This week the LA-based Scooter’s Coffee, which has over 800 locations across 29 states in the US, also announced the end of their plant milk surcharge nationwide.
Mercy For Animals, an advocacy group which encourages companies to make animal-friendly business decisions through its corporate engagement team, says the decisions by Starbucks, Dutch Bros, and Scooter’s Coffee mean that three of the four largest coffee chains now offer plant-based milk at no extra cost.
The group says its corporate focus now turns to the “notable outlier” Dunkin’, which has so far continued to charge customers extra for plant milks.
“Charging more for plant-based milk isn’t just an unfair pricing practice — it’s an equity issue,” says Jennifer Behr, corporate relations manager at Mercy For Animals. “We’ve seen firsthand how upcharges create barriers for people who are lactose intolerant, particularly in communities of color, where lactose-intolerance rates are significantly higher.”
Behr points to studies that show nearly 90 percent of people from some areas of East Asia, 80 percent of Native Americans, 65 percent of Africans and African Americans and 50 percent of Latin Americans experience some form of lactose intolerance.
Campaigners also say that plant-based milks have a drastically lower environmental footprint than dairy, and also don’t require the mass farming of cattle.
Whilst it was once seen as a more niche choice, the popularity of plant-based milks has steadily increased over the last decade with the likes of oat milk lattes and almond milk espressos now mainstays in the coffee industry.
In fact, Starbucks says that adding plant-based milk is the second most popular customer request - only behind adding a shot of espresso.
According to stats before it dropped the plant milk surcharge, almost half of Starbucks customers in the US paid to modify their beverage with non-dairy milk. Now that the surcharge has been removed, customers will see a price reduction of more than 10 percent, the company said in a statement when it first announced its revised policy.
As more and more coffee chains remove the barrier of a surcharge, customers will find it easier than ever to switch cow’s milk with plant-based milks that are friendlier to the animals and the planet.
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