Milky Alternatives
Starbucks introduces coconut milk to drink lineup
After being deluged with requests, Starbucks is introducing a new nondairy option to its drink lineup: coconut milk. It will be available in all stores beginning February 17.
According to a release, the desire for an alternative to dairy and soy was the second-most requested customer idea of all time at MyStarbucksIdea.com, its customer-feedback site, generating more than 84,000 votes.
The pleas for an additional nondairy offering have been coming in daily from customers, ramped up further ever since Starbucks offered coconut milk in a limited trial in October 2014. Starbucks first began testing coconut milk at stores in Portland, Oregon, followed by Cleveland and Los Angeles.
Starbucks' coconut milk is vegan, made from single-origin coconuts from the tropical Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Soy milk was the most popular nondairy option for many years but has been vilified for a variety of reasons — some rational, others not. Almond milk is now the most popular nondairy milk.
But Starbucks' R&D team found that coconut milk was the best complement to Starbucks hot, iced and Frappuccino beverages because of its rich and creamy texture. It also has more widespread appeal than almond milk, because many people have nut alleries.