Starbucks removes extra charge for non-dairy milk in US and Canada
The world’s largest coffee chain has announced it will no longer make customers pay a surcharge for plant-based milks like oat, soy, and almond.
Credit: Starbucks
Starbucks has announced that it will no longer charge customers an extra fee when choosing non-dairy milk.
The coffee chain typically charges customers a surcharge of around 70 to 80 cents if plant-based milk is added to beverages.
But from November 7th onwards, the extra fee has been permanently removed to help make it easier - and cheaper - for customers to choose plant-based milks.
That means customers in the US and Canada can now substitute cow’s milk for plant-based milks including soy, oat, almond, and coconut - free of charge.
“Core to the Starbucks Experience is the ability to customize your beverage to make it yours”, said Brian Niccol, Starbucks chairman and chief executive officer. “By removing the extra charge for non-dairy milks we’re embracing all the ways our customers enjoy their Starbucks.”
Before the change, 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%, the company said in a statement.
Public figures including Paul McCartney supported the call to end Starbucks’ non-dairy surcharge. Credit: PETA
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.
As the world’s biggest coffee chain, environmental and plant-based groups have long contested Starbucks’ non-dairy surcharge. Camapigning has been driven by the fact that plant-based milks have a drastically lower environmental footprint than dairy, as well as not contributing to the mass farming of cattle to produce and sell cow’s milk.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is among the groups who have spent years urging Starbucks to remove the surcharge, with their efforts including regular protests as well as celebrity-backed campaigns from musician Paul McCartney and actor James Cromwell.
The US branch of Starbucks had been somewhat of an outlier within the global economy, as Starbucks in other countries like the UK, France, and Germany already offer non-dairy milks for no surcharge.
But with its new change in US and Canada, Starbucks has reaffirmed the growing popularity of plant-based milks and their acceptance in the mainstream - a decision that can help lower the demand for dairy in favor of plant-based milks that are friendlier to the animals and the planet.
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