Starbucks Expanding Vegan Options to Food Menu!
UPDATE: This article was written over two years ago and a lot has changed since then! Almond milk has been added to the menu for both the U.S. and the U.K., a vegan breakfast option-Overnight Grains-has been added to select New York locations, and now Starbucks has announced the addition of two new vegan items to their menu: a Sprouted Grain Bagel and Organic Avocado Spread.
The Sprouted Grain Bagel is topped with “whole grain oats, brown and golden flax, sunflower seeds and wheat,” and is certified vegan, along with the company’s plain, cinnamon raisin and blueberry bagels. The Avocado Spread is “made with fresh, organic Hass avocados, sea salt, onion, garlic, jalapeño pepper and lime juice,” and is available nationally in the U.S.
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Starbucks, the extremely popular national coffee and food chain, was one of the first of its kind to offer soy milk options, and pleased vegans worldwide when they included coconut milk as a dairy-free option as well. Vegans and those who were lactose-intolerant could now still enjoy their staple coffee beverages, with two delicious dairy-free alternatives!
Compassion Over Killing (COK), however, wanted the coffee giant to go one step further. They began a campaign to encourage Starbucks to include vegan options on their actual food menu. While the chain is seen as many as a quick way to get their caffeine fix at a place with more and more locations popping up everywhere, they actually offer hearty sandwiches as well as decadent pastries. The current menu offers some pre-packaged fruit snacks as their only vegan options.
According to COK’s campaign, a recent study proved that the new generations are becoming more and more interested in vegan options, with over 60 percent opting for meat-free alternatives. In the case of Starbucks, adding the second dairy-free alternative of coconut milk was actually based on customer feedback and requests. As part of their “My Starbucks” campaign, the inclusion of coconut milk was the most popular request of all time!
Since this company clearly is paying at least some attention to customer interests, COK began their petition for actual vegan food options, and it seems that it is a success! With over 21,430 signatures raised so far, Starbucks have announced that they are currently testing out some new vegan options to include in their menu. A spokesperson for the company stated:
“We are in the testing stages of several new products that would qualify as vegan…we have our vegan customers in the forefront of our minds and can’t wait to present some new food options to accommodate the vegan diet and our loyal customers that have requested these options.”
As we have already seen, offering vegan options, or even going completely vegan, seems to be a new and popular trend that satisfies both companies and customers! We can’t wait to see which other companies will join this movement!
Photo Credit: http://www.digitaltrends.com/ & www.onegreenplanet.org
