Vegan First Exclusive Interview With Starbucks About The New Oat Mylk Beverages

30th April 2021
Since Starbucks set foot in India in 2012, they brought along their cult status of being the premiere coffeehouse for the Indian coffee loving population. With their keen sense of staying on top of trends, even creating many along the way, Starbucks proved that they were also going to cheerfully lead the way for the plant-based movement in India. Starbucks already offered almond and soy mylks as options for the people who preferred alternatives to dairy, but they also went one step ahead and added oat mylk as the third plant-based option.

Vegan First spoke to Deepa Krishnan, Director - Marketing, Category, Loyalty, Digital & PR at Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd to find out more about what went behind the decision to add oat mylk to their menu.

On asking her what went behind the decision to launch almond mylk before this, she adds “From our commitment to offering the highest quality coffee to providing our customers with personalised Starbucks experience, customisation is at the heart of everything we do. The insights from our keen understanding of consumer trends, preferences and growing demand is what resulted in us foraying into dairy-free alternative category with almond mylk.”

EARLY MOVERS 

Oat mylk is a relatively new entrant in the Indian plant-based market and Starbucks spearheaded the alternative offerings by an early introduction of almond mylk back in the day.

“Prior to our recent addition of oat mylk to the plant based category in our menu, we were amongst the first to introduce almond and soy mylk. We continue to remain committed towards sustainability, contributing positively to the environment and exploring new possibilities for plant-based innovations in India,” adds Deepa.

Image Credit: Joshua Tujillo/Starbucks, CNN

Apart from their vegan beverage options, Starbucks is also continuously evolving their savoury menu to include more plant-based dishes. More recently they introduced a specially curated menu by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor in partnership with Tata Sampann. Deepa mentions that “Out of the five items comprising the new menu, the red poha with  stew is a delicious one-of-its-kind vegan fusion of South and West India complete with the goodness of fresh carrots, green peas, cashews, and yam. Amongst other vegan options, we have a vegan multigrain croissant which pairs perfectly with customisable handcrafted beverages.”

Vegan Multigrain Croissant
Image Credit: Starbucks