For most of this industry's history, asking for oatmilk cost you an extra 70 cents. We charged it too, once. This is the story of why we stopped — and why we think the surcharge was quietly one of the least fair things on the menu.
Who actually pays a milk tax
A non-dairy surcharge sounds neutral. It isn't. The people who need non-dairy milk aren't making a lifestyle statement — many are lactose intolerant, which is the global majority of adults, and disproportionately common in communities that already pay more for a lot of things. So a flat 'alternative milk fee' is, functionally, a tax on a medical need and a tax that lands hardest on people we'd least like to tax.
We were charging people extra for the milk they could actually drink.
The math was smaller than the principle
When we modeled removing it, the cost was real but far from catastrophic — a rounding error against what the goodwill was worth. Oat, soy, coconut and almond now carry no upcharge in any drink, hot or iced, in any size. Whole and 2% are still there for anyone who wants them. The menu got simpler and fairer in the same move.
What it changed
Two things happened that we didn't fully predict. First, oatmilk became our most-ordered milk within a season — turns out a lot of people preferred it and were just quietly paying the tax or going without. Second, customization went up across the board. When the 'penalty' disappeared, people felt freer to build the drink they actually wanted.
That's the lesson we keep relearning: friction you install to protect margin usually costs you more in trust than it ever saved. Order your latte with oatmilk. It's the same price. It always should have been.