Community
Print
Waitrose just introduced a dedicated oat milk coffee machine.
A customer recently spotted an in-store coffee machine exclusively offering oat milk-based drinks in a Wimbledon branch of the luxury supermarket. However, it’s not yet clear whether this is a one-off, a trial, or the start of a larger roll-out of dairy-free stations.
Vegan advocate Francesca-Marie Boyle, aka @vegansuttonmama, shared a photograph of the oat milk coffee machine on Instagram earlier this month with the caption “Vegans won’t change anything… Yet here’s an #oatmilk coffee machine at @Waitrose Wimbledon now. Hopefully they will be in all stores soon!”
Plant Based News has contacted Waitrose for more information.
Waitrose’s in-store coffee stations typically offer americanos, lattes, cappuccinos, and a breakfast tea option, which are likely also available from the dedicated oat milk machines.
The continued rise of plant-based milk
Waitrose brought back its extremely popular free hot drinks for “MyWaitrose” loyalty card members in 2022 after introducing a minimum purchase amount in 2017 and then pausing the scheme entirely in 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Waitrose currently does not require a minimum spend and offers plant milk free of additional charges. However, the supermarket does now require customers to bring their own cups to save on wasted packaging. (Just 0.25 percent of the 2.5 billion single-use coffee cups discarded annually in the UK are recycled.)
Waitrose’s choice to minimize waste and emphasize dairy-free milk options are both representative of broader trends across the industry and amongst consumers.
In the UK alone, around one in three Britons now drink plant-based milk, with oat varieties in particular leading as the dairy-free drink of choice. While in the US, plant-based milk is in up to 44 percent of US households – a 10 percent increase from previous years.
Looking ahead, Global Market Insights (GMI) predicts that the plant milk market could exceed USD $17 billion (GBP £17.3 billion) by 2026, just two years away.
A GMI spokesperson previously noted: “The plant milk market’s exponential growth is a testament to the evolving preferences and priorities of today’s consumers. With a focus on health, sustainability, and inclusivity, plant-based milk alternatives are positioned to play a pivotal role in the future of the food industry.”
