Starbucks to scrap extra charges for this drink ingredient

Starbucks will soon ditch the fee it charges to customers who substitute non-dairy milk in drinks.

The coffee giant said Wednesday that the extra fee for customers who swap dairy milk for soy milk, oat milk, almond milk and coconut milk will end on Nov. 7 at company-owned and operated locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Starbucks’ move to get rid of the upcharge will result in a 10% price drop for “almost half” of U.S. customers that customize their drinks with a dairy milk substitute.

It said non-dairy milk substitutions were its “second most requested customization from Starbucks customers.” The most common was adding an espresso shot.

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Ditching the non-dairy milk upcharge is part of Starbucks “reimagining our pricing architecture,” CEO Brian Niccol told analysts and investors.

“We know customization is an important part of the Starbucks experience, and we want to make it easier for customers to order their beverage just the way they want it while still feeling like it’s worth it,” he added.

Other changes are in the pipeline at Starbucks, too.

Niccol said the coffee house chain “plans to bring back condiment coffee bars in all of our cafes by early 2025.”

The company is also looking to “cut down our overly complex menu to align with our core identity as a coffee company” and “take steps to better separate mobile order pickup from the cafe experience,” Niccol said.

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Starbucks baristas will start using Sharpie markers again to “give them the opportunity to put that additional human touch on every coffee experience,” Niccol said.

The announcement of the upcoming initiatives comes after Niccol, whose tenure at the company started early last month, said the company needed to “fundamentally change our recent strategy” to boost traffic and growth.

In the fourth quarter, Starbucks said it generated $9.07 billion in net revenues, a 3.2% decline year over year.

There were nearly 40,200 Starbucks locations globally as of the end of September, including about 18,400 in North America.