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Starbucks China Launches Almond Milk Option

Yesterday, Starbucks China officially announced that it will now offer customers a new plant-based choice - almond plant-based milk.

In fact, as early as 2018, Starbucks had already launched products made with almond milk. However, at that time, most Chinese consumers had limited awareness of plant-based milks and showed little interest. Consequently, products made with almond milk disappeared from the menu after being available for a period.

What is Almond Milk?

Like oat milk, almond milk contains no animal milk components and is a plant-based beverage with zero lactose, zero milk fat, and high protein. Due to its full-bodied texture, milky white color, and various marketing campaigns promoting these plant-based beverages as milk substitutes, these products have come to be simply referred to as "plant-based milks."

Perhaps many people are unfamiliar with the name "badamu" (almond), as we usually refer to them as almonds, which are also one of the meal replacement snacks chosen by many fitness enthusiasts to maintain their physique.

Among all nuts, macadamia nuts have the highest fat content (76%), while peanuts and pistachios have the lowest (44%). Almonds have a medium-level fat content (52%), primarily consisting of oleic acid (unsaturated fatty acids). Consuming almonds provides high-quality oleic acid, reduces intake of other fats, creates a noticeable feeling of fullness, and supplies various vitamins and minerals.

Popularity of Almond Milk

Among plant-based milks, the popularity of almond milk is no less than that of oat milk. Before oat milk became popular, almond milk's popularity in European and American countries far exceeded that of soy milk. Later, after oat milk emerged as a rising star, although the demand for almond milk was not as high as for oat milk, almond milk's market share ranked second only to oat milk.

Oat milk surpassed almond milk because its overall fat content is lower than almond milk, and it also attracted a large group of consumers allergic to nuts.

However, in terms of taste, the richness and inherent flavor of almond milk pair better with coffee, creating no sense of discord while enhancing the overall richness of the coffee. Therefore, although oat milk can cover more consumer groups, it hasn't significantly impacted the demand for almond milk.

Growing Trend in Chinese Cafes

In recent years domestically, many cafes have also popularized the use of almond milk. In fact, starting from 2021, many independent cafes began offering customers almond milk options. The fact that cafe owners dared to make such a niche choice suggests that they have noticed young consumers' love for nut snacks.

According to the "2021 Tmall Nut Consumption Trend Report," almonds are deeply loved by the post-90s and post-95s generations, which overlaps with the main consumer group in the beverage industry. In the "2022 Nut Industry Trend Insights," mixed nuts have become the market mainstream. Compared to purchasing a single type of nut, mixed nuts are more cost-effective and offer more variety.

The nut-consuming demographic is predominantly female, with young consumer groups showing stronger purchasing power. Consumers' primary motivations for consumption are supplementing nutrition, trace elements, and maintaining dietary balance.

Similarly, the consumer groups for innovative coffee products and plant-based milk products are mainly female. When a plant-based milk fails to bring fresh flavors to consumers, new products are needed for iteration and updates. As a product made from popular nuts, almond milk has gradually gained attention in cafes.

The Latest Coffee Trend: Nut Products Take Center Stage

Compared to other plant-based milks, almond milk is more expensive, so not all coffee shops choose to carry almond milk products. However, we can notice that a matcha-colored product has become popular in coffee shops recently - pistachio latte/Dirty.

Compared to using almond milk directly, pistachio paste + milk is more cost-effective. At the same time, pistachios hold a special place in many people's hearts. Because eating too many pistachios in childhood was discouraged by adults (due to their high cost), people have developed an inexplicable fondness for pistachios.

Does Almond Milk Have the Potential to Become a Hit?

In the past, due to constraints such as cost and production processes, almond milk as a base was not widely used. However, with consumers' current focus on healthy eating and the increased demand for nut snacks, almond milk might represent a new trend.

Before Starbucks China partnered with Oatly in 2020 to launch oat milk series coffee products, many coffee shops were already offering oat milk options.

Starbucks' promotion further stimulated consumers' interest in plant-based milks, introduced more people to oat milk, and also inspired the entire coffee industry and even the beverage industry to offer oat milk options.

The health trend is irreversible, and the popularity of plant-based products will continue. Starbucks' launch is also accelerating public awareness of almond milk, thus enhancing its popularity.

Image source: Internet

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