Trending plant-based milks are the starring ingredients in Starbucks’ latest launch of beverage varieties Almondmilk Honey Flat White and Coconutmilk Latte. As dairy alternatives continue to enjoy sustained market popularity, Starbucks debuts the new drinks on its permanent menu in US and Canadian stores under its winter food and beverage line-up. Meanwhile, oat milk has been introduced as the chain’s newest non-dairy option across selec midwestern US markets. The 2020 range demonstrates how the coffee giant is repsonding to the growing trend for personalized beverages with nuanced flavors.

The Plant based Revolution has been tipped as the number two trend for 2020 in Innova Market Insights’ Top 10 Trends list and the dairy alternatives category represents a key growth area in this consumer-driven movement. The market researcher notes that there is no single factor driving the rise in purchase rates. However, lactose avoidance is still arguably a more significant issue than veganism, although the vegan juggernaut is certainly not slowing down.

Starbucks’ recent launch comes 15 years after the introduction of the brand’s first soy latte, soy chai tea latte and soy cappuccino offerings. The company launched its first dairy alternative in 2004 just as plant-based milks were starting to gain popularity. Starbucks added coconut milk to its lineup in 2015 and almond milk in 2016. The company’s R&D team also began creating new beverages to highlight the flavors of the non-dairy milks like Coconutmilk Mocha Macchiato and Horchata Almondmilk Frappuccino blended beverage.

Starbucks Product Developer Raegan Powell created a “coffee-forward” beverage with real honey to complement the almond flavor with a touch of sweetness. The Almondmilk Honey Flat White combines shots of Blonde Espresso with a Honey Blend and steamed almond milk, finished with the Flat White’s signature dot of foam. “We started with the coffee. Starbucks Blonde Espresso pairs well with the lighter texture of milk alternatives, especially almond milk. It’s a little bit nuttier, so it complements the almond-based milk,” she says.

For the Coconutmilk Latte, Powell and her team crafted the beverage using shots of Starbucks Blonde Espresso combined with steamed coconut milk and finished with a strike of cascara sugar. “Coconut milk is such a star on its own, we leaned into highlighting the coffee and the coconut milk. We found that the cascara sugar on the top added a bit of sweetness without overpowering the beverage,” Powell explains.

Meanwhile, oat milk, a fast-growing milk alternative, is known for its mild flavor and velvety foam and has been on the menu at Starbucks stores in Europe since January 2018 and selec Starbucks Reserve locations since last March. Around 1,300 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin are just starting to offer oat milk as an additional non-dairy option, along with the featured Oatmilk Honey Latte.

“When I think about oats and winter, it’s very natural to pair honey with oats,” Powell adds.

The Oatmilk Honey Latte is made with Starbucks Blonde Espresso infused with Honey Blend, and steamed oat milk with a honey topping that is both sweet and savory.

“Customers are looking for more ways to personalize their beverages,” Powell says. “We love how the nuanced flavor you get with plant-based milks pairs with espresso, either hot or iced.”

Mainstream brands capitalize on thirst for plant-based

Innova Market Insights notes that it is the flexitarian movement – led by Western markets – that appears to be having the most impact on current growth of the plant-based dairy alternatives market. In nine countries surveyed, an average of 32 percent of consumers said they bought dairy alternatives simply “because they’re healthier” and 27 percent “because they bring variety to my diet,” helping to incorporate more plant ingredients.

“There is a real variety in the products emerging in the European and North American markets,” says Lu Ann Williams, Director of Insights and Innovation at Innova Market Insights. “And within the past year or two, we have even seen mainstream brands joining the fray, something that many consumers will see as an endorsement of their own emerging interest,” she notes.

According to last month’s Innova Market Insights report, the purchasing of dairy alternatives is still most frequent in Asia and Latin America, which are home to the greatest incidence of lactose intolerance, with diversification and segmentation of the category focused on more developed regions. There is an above-average focus on dairy-free yogurts in Europe, for example, while ice cream represented almost a third of all dairy alternative launches in North America in 2018.

Next to Starbucks, other notable players are tapping into these current market trends. Last month, US Greek yogurt brand Chobani revealed the company’s “biggest expansion ever” with an entire platform of batch-made oat-based drinks and cultured oat blends. The move marked Chobani’s first foray outside of the yogurt aisle with Chobani Oat Drink and dairy-based creamers.

As the market for oat-based beverage continues to grow, Novozymes has developed a toolbox to guide producers expanding their businesses into oat drinks. Hailed by the company as “the first of its kind,” the toolbox provides insights into how to use and combine enzymes, raw material and production parameters to adjust sweetness, mouthfeel and nutritional profile in oat beverages.

Meanwhile, ChickP, an Israeli food tech start-up developing innovative plant proteins, has launched a line of “next-generation” chickpea isolates especially designed for plant-based dairy alternative products. The isolates are hailed as ground-breaking plant proteins developed in collaboration with the faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.