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Oatly to be served at Starbucks nationwide

Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous and Brooke DiPalma discuss Starbucks bringing Oatly milk into its stores.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Switching gears here, today Starbucks announced its plans to add Oatly Oat Milk to its menu nationwide. This is going to be the fourth dairy alternative on the coffee giant's permanent menu. And our Brooke DiPalma has all those details for us. Brooke.

BROOKE DIPALMA: Alexis, beginning tomorrow, consumers can head to Starbucks and get Oatly Oat Milk in their coffee, in their espressos, in any drink that they'd like. Now, of course, this is alongside Starbucks' debut of their 2021 spring menu items. So with that oat milk launch, there will also be that iced brown sugar oat milk shake and espresso and a honey oat milk latte. Now year over year, oat milk category has risen more than 170%. And consumers look for more healthy alternatives.

Now this was first announced by Starbucks back in December at their biannual investor day, not that they'd partner with Oatly, but that oat milk would be on their menus beginning in the spring. Ros Brewer, COO of Starbucks at the time, said that customers are really redefining health and wellness.

Of course, the competition in oat milk among Starbucks giants is beginning to brew, as you can sort of say. Dunkin', earlier last year in August, debuted oat milk on their menu with Planet OAt. Now that is a competitor to Oatly, but Oatly being the winner here. Starbucks will debut it here in the US. Over 15,000 stores, that is, of Starbucks, according to Q1 results.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: And I know that Starbucks has really made a commitment to adding some other plant-based items to the menu. And they're not all beverages, right?

BROOKE DIPALMA: That's right, Alexis. They're not all beverages. CEO Kevin Johnson saying in Q1 results that consumers are really shifting to more healthier alternatives in both food and beverage. So over the course of these past few spring/winter menus, we're beginning to see more food options.

Now for the spring in particular, they're going to do chickpea bite and avocado protein box-- you could see it right there-- alongside a new role, or you could say among its iced teas, there will no longer be sweetener in the iced teas among immediate order. You'll have to ask for sweetener. So really sort of identifying and changing up their menu based upon consumers' needs and wants.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: That chickpea thing looks pretty good. I'm going to have to try that. All right, thanks a lot, Brooke.