Udderly Kind is a corporate outreach campaign designed to encourage businesses to prioritise the promotion of plant milks

Advocating for a dairy-free future, this campaign will encourage cafes to eliminate plant-based milk surcharges and adopt oat milk as the default in stores.

The results of Animal Justice Project’s YouGov poll (which surveyed 2000 people in the UK) indicated that consumers know very little about dairy with only 18% of people agreeing that dairy companies provide consumers with enough information about how cows’ milk and dairy products are produced. Despite this, one-third of Brits are still willing to have oat milk as the default milk. As we educate them more about the Arlarming reality of dairy, this number will only increase.

The popularity of plant milk is continuing to grow, and a number of businesses have already successfully implemented oat milk as default milk, with Blue Bottle Coffee Lab reporting a 21% increase in sales of coffee made with plant-based milk. Other businesses have gone further and have made vegan the default along with plant-milk. It’s crucial for businesses to adapt to the rising demand of plant milk and shift their offering to reflect change in consumer demand, in a way that is beneficial to animals and the environment.

Open Letter to Starbucks UK

The Strategic and Ethical Case for a Phased Pilot of Default Oat Milk at Starbucks UK

Following the release of our petition and relentless campaign efforts, Starbucks has refused to engage with us. But we have no doubt they are watching and listening, we have no doubt they are discussing our campaign in their board rooms. To break the silence and to get Starbucks acting, we have published an Open Letter urging them to change by taking a small step forward. 

Spearheaded by green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince, the letter urges Starbucks to pilot oat as the default in one store before scaling strategically. 

The Open Letter’s pilot scheme is the first step in a strategic rollout to align the brand with growing consumer demand, environmental goals, and ethical responsibility. The letter is backed by a broad coalition of supporters, including environmentalists, health professionals, charities, academics, celebrities, and 17 animal sanctuaries, all calling on Starbucks to evolve. The full Open Letter and list of signatories is available here and it has been featured by London Post and Larder Magazine.

• Take action with us by leaving our comments on Starbucks' social media.

Oat Milk is the Future 

If we could get an industry giant to change its behaviour and shift to oat, we will set a precedent for other businesses to follow

Research from Faunalytics shows that plant-based default programs can increase the selection of plant-based options from 17.2% to a much higher percentage of 72.5%. Oat milk sales would likely increase at Starbucks if it was the default milk, helping them reach their sustainability targets as dairy is responsible for 22% of their global emissions. 

Starbucks has already taken positive steps, including removing the surcharge on plant-based milk and launching a ‘Store of the Future’ in Shanghai where oat is the default – so now we are urging Starbucks leadership to bring that same boldness to the UK. Our Open Letter cannot be ignored. 

Experts from a multitude of academic backgrounds and specialisms have signed on, including NHS consultant and gastroenterologist, Dr Alan Desmond who advocates for oat milk.

Many facts about the dairy industry are completely unknown to the public, as the results of our YouGov survey have demonstrated. As more people learn the Arlarming reality of dairy, more will choose oat milk in their coffee.

Starbucks, it’s time to lead the way!

We are asking Starbucks to recognise how damaging cows’ milk is for not only the animals, but also human health and the environment

By shifting their focus to the promotion of plant milk, Starbucks can help accelerate positive change. Will you join us by signing our petition? Together we can urge them to change.

In 2022, Starbucks dropped surcharges on plant-based milk in the UK. They then followed this with further removals of surcharges in Germany and France in 2023, and the USA and Canada in 2024. These are positive steps forward, but now we’re asking Starbucks to go even further and make plant milk the default milk in all UK stores. 

Starbucks will be our key campaign focus in 2025. We are urging UK branches to align with Starbucks’ own global Greener Store Framework and follow Shanghai's fantastic example, where oat milk is the default option for most drinks, and over 50% of the menu is completely vegan. As Starbucks’ aim is to become sustainable and truly green, they must make plant milk their default option. 

"I wholeheartedly support Animal Justice Project in calling on Starbucks in the UK, and any other country, to make oat milk their default option. This simple yet impactful change would not only deliver significant environmental benefits but also send a powerful message about the importance of extending compassion to all living beings. Accessibility is fundamental to empowering individuals to make conscious, compassionate choices, which is why my 100% vegan online supermarket, Alternative Stores, is proud to contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future for all" – Heather Mills, Activist, Philanthropist and Entrepreneur.

Plant milk is the only sustainable milk 

For the sake of all life on our planet, it is vital that businesses recognise this crucial fact and evolve.

Research from the University of Oxford shows that oat milk has significantly lower environmental impact than cows’ milk, requiring less land, water, and producing fewer emissions. Using oat milk as the default milk would drastically reduce the environmental impact of businesses.

It is often claimed that plant milk is too expensive, though this is because the government offers a big bailout out to dairy farmers, subsidising their income as animal agriculture is not sustainable. This results in lower pricing of goods, despite the fact that dairy products cost far more to produce than plant-based milks. In 2023, the government spent a staggering amount of taxpayers’ money on the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) for farmers. But where was the support for plant-based milks? 

A simple and effective solution to this problem would be flat pricing, which is where the price of dairy products are increased and plant-based milks lowered so they are equal. So if you are a business owner struggling with the cost of goods, then perhaps it’s time to raise the price of dairy and lower the price of plant milks, to better reflect their real-world costs. Plant milk is, certainly, the only sustainable choice.

For this to work, we’re going to need your help!

Your participation is vital. Whether you're backing us by joining our outreach, signing our petitions, or sharing our undercover exposés, achieving real change will depend on a collective effort.

Together, we will: 

• Encourage businesses to prioritise the sale of plant milk. 
• Inspire people to choose the plant-based options in their drinks. 
• Mobilise businesses to become leaders, influencing others to also change. 

There is much more to get involved in down the line as our campaign builds momentum, so keep an eye on our socials for updates and as we roll out actions you can get involved in. The Udderly Kind campaign, alongside its sister campaign Arlarming, will encourage systemic change that will directly influence people’s purchasing choice.

What can you do to help cows? 

There are many ways in which we can help our fellow animals. The first way is through personal change.

Recent research by the Vegan Society indicates that there is a growing shift towards a plant-based diet, with 10% of the population reducing or eliminating animal ‘products’ in some way. As this shift continues to grow, more and more people are choosing vegan and leaving all animal ‘products’ off their plate. You can help the cows by no longer purchasing products that contain dairy and choosing vegan instead.