# Vegan Milk Initiatives Starbucks Announced 'CauliMilk' as a Humorous Campaign with a Real Message By Colin Smith | Published 2022-04-05 | Business Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/caulimilk References: [vegnews](https://vegnews.com/2022/4/starbucks-dairy-free-cauliflower-milk) & [starbucks](https://www.starbucks.ca/menu?gclid=CjwKCAjw0a-SBhBkEiwApljU0gptukwcmm-34oEGZ9YBtGT97aste4DE-w1y3y_16Num6lC6JGD_LBoCGzQQAvD_BwE)  [Starbucks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/nondairy-milk) announced 'CauliMilk' on April Fool's Day as a plant-based milk option for its stores that does not cost an additional surcharge. Also on April Fool's Day, Starbucks announced a new 'Gigante' size that is even larger than its 'Venti' and 'Trenta' sizes. While the CauliMilk is not a real product, and the new size is unfortunately not coming to fruition, Starbucks also announced a genuine initiative amongst the humorous campaign. Starbucks is looking into [plant-based milk substitutes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/plantbased-whole-milk) beyond oat, soy, coconut, and almond. The brand announced that it is, in fact, looking to reduce its [plant-based milk surcharge](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/free-oat-milk-coffees) by finding new alternatives. The surcharge has currently been dropped at roughly 1,000 stores in the United Kingdom, but the other tens of thousands of store locations still charge a small extra fee for milk substitutes. Starbucks has not given a timeline for this new initiative, but it is actively looking into its options for the near future. Image Credit: Starbucks ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 6.3/10 - Popularity: 81% | Activity: 96% | Freshness: 11% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America, Europe, Asia ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Business](https://www.trendhunter.com/business) > [Retail](https://www.trendhunter.com/retail) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **Plant-based Milk:** Starbucks is exploring plant-based milk options beyond oat, soy, coconut, and almond, leading to an opportunity for companies to develop innovative and sustainable milk substitutes. - **Reduce Milk Surcharge:** Starbucks is looking to reduce surcharges on plant-based milk by exploring new alternatives, creating an opportunity for companies to develop cost-effective and eco-friendly milk substitutes. - **Humorous Campaigns:** Starbucks' use of humor as a means of communicating its initiatives presents an opportunity for other companies to use humor as a way of discussing serious issues with their audiences. ### Where This Applies - **Dairy Alternatives:** The search for new plant-based milk options presents an opportunity for dairy alternative companies to partner with Starbucks and create more sustainable and cost-effective products. - **Food and Beverage:** The reduction of surcharges on plant-based milk in Starbucks stores presents an opportunity for other food and beverage companies to follow suit and promote more sustainable products. - **Marketing and Advertising:** The use of humor in Starbucks' CauliMilk campaign presents an opportunity for marketing and advertising companies to use humor as a tool for communicating serious messages in more engaging ways. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Non-Dairy Milk Accessibility Improvements](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/nondairy-milk.md) - [Coffee Enthusiast Alt Milks](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/califia-farms-barista-blends.md) - [Dairy-Free Coffee Enhancers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/non-dairy-coffee-enhancer.md) - [Barista-Approved Milk Substitutes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vita-coco.md) - [Fast-Food Oat Milk Alternatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/milk-lab.md) - [Barista-Friendly Milk Alternatives](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/oatbased-milk.md) - [Dairy-Free Fall Lattes](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/apple-crisp-oatmilk-macchiato.md) - [Plant-Based Iced Coffee Creamers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/iced-caf-mixers.md) - [Fall Cafe Beverage Collections](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/pecan-oatmilk-cortado.md)