Starbucks to add almond milk to menu

US coffee giant Starbucks has granted its customers’ wishes and will be offering almond milk as an option in its coffees as of September. The move is a response to requests from Starbucks customers, which are submitted through its crowdsourcing platform, My Starbucks Idea. The new menu item will not be just any almond milk, however, says Yoke Wong, manager on Starbucks beverage R&D team. “We created our own almondmilk recipe to complement our hot, iced and Frappuccino blended beverages,” Wong says. “It was designed so that when steamed, it creates a rich foam for hot beverages and is delicious and creamy when served in cold beverages.” Starting September 6, Starbucks Almondmilk will be available in more than 4,600 stores as a non-dairy alternative, in addition to soymilk and coconutmilk. Almond milk will initially be available in company-operated and -licensed stores in the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, New York, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, kicking off a nationwide rollout that will be complete by the end of September. It will be available for use in Starbucks handcrafted beverages, including hot or iced drinks and Frappuccino blended beverages. Starbucks introduced its first non-dairy milk alternative in 2004 with the launch of soymilk, followed by coconutmilk in February 2015.