What’s your alternative milk of choice? For many, it’s soy milk — and for good reason; it is the most nutritious type of plant-based milk, according to a January 2018 study by McGill University. But for others (me included!), almond milk is their go-to. And with the popularity of milk alternatives holding steady — especially oat milk, which is expected to become a huge food trend in 2019, according to Pinterest — it’s safe to say plant-based milk is going nowhere.
And Starbucks plans to take full advantage of it.
Starbucks recently announced it’ll start selling two new ready-to-pour iced espresso almond milks at grocery stores nationwide, and shoppers have two flavors to choose from: Caffè Latte and Caffè Mocha.
According to Refinery29, the almond milk beverages come in 40-ounce bottles and are priced at $4.99 each.
Will Starbucks’ new flavors sell? Let’s look at the stats.
To start, worldwide sales of nondairy milk alternatives more than doubled between 2009 and 2015, according to a study published in the journal Practical Gastroenterology in January 2018. Last year, the retail sales of almond milk in the U.S. amounted to about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, according to stats published by Statista. Add to that Pinterest’s assertion that milk alternatives will continue to rise in popularity this year, and, yes, we’d consider this a win on Starbucks’ part.
These two new almond milk flavors follow Starbucks’ announcement of its new cinnamon shortbread latte, described in their press release as “cookie butter in a cup.” The coffee chain also added new food to its menu, including a ham and Swiss panini, ham, cheddar and pepper sous vide egg bites and a red velvet loaf cake.
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