It started with one café. Nine trials and five months later, we've just hit double figures. Nottingham, London and Bristol have become hotspots for our campaign.

Back in April, The Canteen in Bristol became the first café to trial oat milk as the default option as part of our Udderly Kind campaign. Since then, cafés and businesses up and down the country have followed their lead, and this week Doughnotts in Nottingham made it ten.

We visited in person and one of their talented baristas told us: 

"Well, it's already pretty popular among the students in Beeston and it's really inclusive. Everybody can drink oat milk including vegans and people with intolerances. So, I think it's a really good choice. It's an all-rounder and it's cruelty-free, everybody likes it." 

How We Got Here

The Canteen kicked things off, citing the impact dairy had on their carbon footprint, and by June made the switch permanent. Two more cafés joined that same month: Bonnies Café in Brentwood and Oven District in Chiswick, our first London café to take part. All three have since kept oat as their default, proving this isn't a short-term experiment but a change that sticks.

By the end of July, we put out the call for ten more cafés to join the next round of trials. The response has been brilliant. August brought Biblos in Bristol and Cielo Cakery in Brighton, our first trial on the South Coast. Then September arrived, and things picked up fast: Deli-cious Chocolate and Sipping Boba both joined in Nottingham, followed days later by two more London cafés, Catch in Sidcup and Coffee Lounge in Woolwich.

And now, Doughnotts in Beeston, known for their big-flavour, handmade doughnuts, has joined the trial too, becoming the third business in Nottingham alone to make oat the default. That's ten businesses across London, Bristol, Brighton and Nottingham, each one choosing to make oat the first option rather than the alternative.

Why It Works

Every business that's taken part has done it a little differently, but the pattern holds. Staff ask a simple question at the till, "is oat milk okay?", and customers, more often than not, say yes. It's a small shift that quietly reshapes what "normal" looks like in a cup.

Our survey of 50 UK cafés found that while 84% had never considered trialling default oat before we spoke with them, 57% became open to the idea once they understood how it worked and what support was available. That's exactly what we're seeing play out, trial by trial.

None of this would be possible without our partners at Minor Figures, who've backed every single trial with free oat milk, in-store signage and ongoing support for participating businesses.

"To a café thinking of making oat milk their default, I’d encourage them straight away, but I also acknowledge the practicalities. A lot of folks might have concerns around pricing. But it’s becoming more affordable and more available than it’s ever been before. There’s a reason you see it in every café, and hopefully that’s going to be the trend moving forward." Bryan, Minor Figures 

Ten Down, More to Come

Every business that switches to oat as default means fewer people choosing dairy without even thinking about it, and that's exactly how oat becomes the new 'normal', one till conversation at a time. Ten trials in, it's clear this is a shift with real momentum behind it, and we're not slowing down.

Our Udderly Kind campaign has made great progress these past few months, and I’m really excited to keep the momentum building by securing more trials. Don’t forget, you can help us do so by giving cafes a nudge too. 

Want your café to be part of the next round? Or know one that should be? Get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

As always,
For the Animals!

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