The plant milk will join Costa's dairy-free lineup of soy, coconut, and almond

Costa Coffee is said to be expanding its dairy-free offering (Photo: Costa Coffee)

Costa Coffee will be launching oat milk in its outlets across the country - according to Vegan Food UK.

Vegan Food UK is an online organization sharing vegan food news, reviews, vlogs, and more. It operates across multiple social media platforms, with a Facebook group, Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram account.

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Oat milk option

The organization revealed the news in an Instagram post, writing: "Costa Coffee Will Finally Have an Oat Milk Option as of March 2020!

"Our insiders tell us that Costa Coffee has finally taken the plunge and will be serving the nation's favorite plant milk. As it uses Alpro already, we assume it will use [the same brand] for the oat milk - but great news.

"We really need oat milk in all cafes in 2020."

Free-from options

The new option will join Costa's existing dairy-free line-up, which consists of soy, coconut, and almond - the latter was added in January last year.

Speaking at the time, Russell Braterman, innovations director at Costa Coffee, said customers were looking for more alternatives when it came to 'free-from' options.

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He said: "We know our customers want more choice when it comes to coffee customization and have witnessed a growing demand for ‘free-from’ and vegan options.

"Given the popularity of the Coconut alternative drink, which we introduced last year, our Lactofree and Almond options are the next logical step. Our seven-strong-range means we can now cater to our customers unique preferences, without compromising on the great taste they love.’"

Vegan milk surcharge

While dairy-free options are becoming more readily available, coffee chains have found themselves under fire for charging extra for most milk. Costa offers soy for no extra cost, and offered other plant milks for free over the Christmas period.

This move followed a campaign launched by Veganuary on World Plant Milk Day - an annual campaign created by Plant Based News - calling on chains like Starbucks, Costa, Café Nero and Pret a Manger to drop the 20-50p on plant milks.

Toni Vernelli, head of communications at Veganuary, said: "Charging extra for plant milk is effectively a tax on climate-conscious customers.

"Animal farming is responsible for more than half of all food-related greenhouses gases and cows are the prime cause, with each one burping out 600 liters of methane a day. The true cost of cow's milk is climate catastrophe."