Starbucks announced on Oct. 30 that the chain has gone away with the up charge for milk alternatives for their drinks. This announcement came out amongst the release of their new Holiday Menu items for the company. This change will affect only United States and Canada company owned and operated stores.
This change has come about as an effort to fix that sales results and revenue drops that were seen as disappointing by the head Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Sales at Starbucks locations both around the world and in North America dropped by two percent in 2024. Starbucks has been struggling with slowing sales and customer boycotts.
According to CBC News, “earlier this year, three customers in the U.S. launched a class-action lawsuit against the company, saying the dairy-alternative surcharges violated the civil rights of customers who are lactose intolerant or have dairy allergies.” In response to this, Starbucks is doing its part to relieve the charge for the milk alternatives and to give everyone the same experience when ordering a drink at a Starbucks location.
Starting on Nov. 7, Starbucks will be getting rid of the extra charge for oat, soy, almond and coconut milk alternatives for drinks. The drop of the charge will allow customers to customize their drinks and make them their own. The current charge for alternative milks runs customers from 70 cents to 80 cents depending on the different markets and states.
The price cut for the milk alternatives is 10%, giving customers a sizable decrease in their coffee order going forward. The CEO of Starbucks hopes this change will change customers’ experiences going forward and will give those that choose the non-dairy option a better experience when buying from Starbucks.
Brian Niccol, Starbucks Chairman and CEO, said, “Core to the Starbucks Experience is the ability to customize your beverage to make it yours. By removing the extra charge for non-dairy milks we’re embracing all the ways our customers enjoy their Starbucks.”
According to Starbucks, the non-dairy milk options are the second most popular customization amongst their customers that follows their most popular espresso shots. This change will have some impact on sales and the market due to the high demand for the product, hoping to bring in more customers and correct some of the misdoings within the company.
Some competitors to Starbucks might follow in their footsteps in dropping their non-dairy extra charge; however, this is not the only issue inside of the company. With the dropping of the extra charge, there are hopes it should ease some of the tensions inside the company’s revenue and sales while they come up with ideas to tackle the larger problems inside of the company.
rbleich@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Dom-J, Pexels
