Make Oat Milk the New Normal

Join a growing movement of sustainability advocates, celebrities, forward-thinking businesses, and thousands of UK consumers calling for oat milk to become the default nationwide

Customers are already on board with this switch. According to Animal Justice Project’s 2025 YouGov survey, 1 in 3 UK consumers (32%) are happy with oat milk as the default and among Gen Z, almost 1 in 2 (44%) are already supportive. And these numbers are only set to grow as the public learns more about the reality of dairy. Defaulting to oat milk is not only popular, it’s more inclusive. A large proportion of the world’s population (70%) is lactose intolerant, so offering oat milk as standard ensures fairer, healthier choices for all. Oat as default is a brilliant way of gently encouraging a more sustainable and compassionate coffee order.

Udderly Kind is a corporate outreach campaign designed to empower businesses to prioritise oat milk.

Are you a café owner? 

Thinking about making oat your default or would you simply like to share your opinion on the prospect? We’d love to hear from you

By making oat milk the default in your café, you position your business as ethical, inclusive and future focused. This strengthens your brand and drives growth. It’s better for animals, the planet and for business. You can tell us your thoughts by filling out our online survey. You have the chance to win a case of 12 Moma Oat milks, sent directly to your café.

Oat as Default Works

With careful planning, oat milk does not have to be an expensive default

There are many creative ways you can navigate the slightly higher cost of oat milk. King’s College London introduced a 30p charge on single-use coffee cups, and the revenue generated funds the provision of oat milk at no extra cost. This approach not only incentivises sustainable habits (bringing your own cup) but also offsets the higher cost of plant-based milk. It's a win for the planet, and a win for animal-free options.

The Student Union at University College London introduced oat as the default milk in their cafés and the students love the positive change. The Union says:

‘Choosing a 'soft default' approach to oat milk in our cafés creates opportunities for raising awareness and shaping a behavioural change among the campus community for more sustainable outcomes.’

According to research by Faunalyltics, when plant-based options are offered as the default, sales of those items jump from 17.2% to 72.5% in dining halls. This simple switch future-proofs your business, reduces ties to controversial dairy suppliers, and opens the door to growth. Together, we can make oat milk the norm: sustainable, inclusive, and fair.

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.

The Future is Oat

By making oat milk your default, it shows that you are forward thinking and taking steps to modernise your business

Cut Your Carbon & Save the Planet: Dairy is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in food service. For example, 22% of Starbucks’ global emissions come directly from it. Switching to oat milk as your default dramatically lowers your café’s environmental footprint: oat milk produces just one-third of the emissions of dairy according to Our World in Data. Together, we can tackle the climate crisis by making plant-based products the easy, accessible choice. That means ending unfair surcharges and encouraging more customers to choose the sustainable option.

Public Criticism of Dairy Farming is Rising: Farmers drag frightened babies away from mothers. Cows are milked relentlessly with demands for higher milk yields leaving their udders raw and inflamed with mastitis. When dairy cows reach five to seven years old, they are deemed unprofitable and sent to slaughter. Defaulting to oat reduces reliance on such needless cruelty. You can read more about the realities of dairy farming here. 

Back a Better Future for Farming: Choosing oat milk doesn’t just support consumers – it supports farmers too. Plant-based milks shift demand toward sustainable UK-grown crops like oats, reducing pressure on the livestock industry and its workers. Those employed in dairy farming face higher risks of mental health struggles. By helping the industry evolve towards arable agriculture, we can create healthier, more sustainable livelihoods. Already, 10% of the UK population is reducing or eliminating animal products. Farming will continue to adapt, and cafés and coffee chains can play a powerful role in leading that transition.

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.

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.

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.

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.