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---
title: Starbucks Offers Coconut Milk as Non Dairy Vegan Alternative
description: Finally, a non-soy dairy alternative
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author: Samantha Grossman
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article:published_time: 2015-02-05T16:47:23.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:36.852Z
og:title: Starbucks Is Going to Start Offering Coconut Milk
og:description: Good news for vegans!
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8d8e8406d609c4b/69877d8ee53aba324a4d7657/450335998.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Starbucks Is Going to Start Offering Coconut Milk

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XucqKVaV.m3u8" -->
## Video: India's Endangered (Authentic) Coffee House

[Watch (HLS stream): India's Endangered (Authentic) Coffee House](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XucqKVaV.m3u8) (3:16)

![India's Endangered (Authentic) Coffee House](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XucqKVaV/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2009-11-26. In New Delhi, coffee franchises are crowding out the old standbys, but the India Coffee House hangs on with its bygone charms and low prices_


by 

[Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/)


## Samantha Grossman


Feb 5, 2015 4:47 PM UTC

![Operations Inside A Starbucks Corp. Coffee Shop](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8d8e8406d609c4b/69877d8ee53aba324a4d7657/450335998.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

An employee pours milk into a cardboard coffee cup inside a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in London, U.K., on Monday, June 9, 2014\. U.K. services companies' confidence rose to a record this quarter, indicating continued expansion in the largest part of the economy, the Confederation of British Industry said. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

An employee pours milk into a cardboard coffee cup inside a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in London, U.K., on Monday, June 9, 2014\. U.K. services companies' confidence rose to a record this quarter, indicating continued expansion in the largest part of the economy, the Confederation of British Industry said. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jason Alden/Bloomberg—Getty Images

by 

[Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/)


## Samantha Grossman


Feb 5, 2015 4:47 PM UTC

Good news for all of you sticking to vegan or Paleo diets: Starbucks will soon begin offering a non-soy dairy alternative.

Beginning Feb. 17, the coffee chain will serve coconut milk, according to a Starbucks [news release](http://news.starbucks.com/news/coconut-milk-available-in-u.s.-starbucks-stores-beginning-february-17). And it’s not just _any_ coconut milk, it’s “Starbucks Single Origin Sumatra Coconut Milk, a creamy, delicious alternative to dairy and soy for handcrafted beverages.”

It’s certified vegan and, if you were wondering, made from coconuts from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The new option will cost you an extra 60 cents, which is the same as soy milk, USA Today [reports](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/02/04/starbucks-fast-food-restaurants-coconut-milk/22862931/).

Thousands of customers have been requesting an alternative to dairy and soy on MyStarbucksIdea.com, the company explained, so they are finally giving the people what they want.

_Read TIME’s New Cover:_ [_Starbucks For America_](http://time.com/3696865/starbucks-for-america/)


## Transcript

>> Walking into the India Coffee House in New Delhi is like walking into an old black and white movie. Almost nothing has changed since the coffee started plowing here last century. The eatery is still the last to refuge. It's always been from different [ unk ] streets of India's capital. But under the noises of the clinking dishes and the steaming milk, it's a little too quiet. The tables were politicians and artists used to chat are now almost empty.

>> People [ unk ] gentry were coming. They are not coming.

>> Gurnam Singh has been coming here almost every day for the last 20 years.

>> But still people are remembering this coffee house. And some, once in awhile, coming in and asking you're still coming, I'm still, yes I am still coming.

>> Despite the role the Indian Coffee House's played in the city's history, [ unk ] residents like Singh, this Delhi institution cannot make the rent and without government help may soon be praised out of its own neighborhood.

>> Government want to close but I said, why you are closing? You have government making lot of things for senior citizens. The one place you have. Why you're going to destroy it?

>> New Starbucks knockoffs don't offer the same kind of good, cheap Indian food that Singh and all the residents like him can afford.

>> The common people there can't go in Barista or Café there. They can't afford 200 rupees of one cup of coffee or sandwich. Here you can eat 30 rupees meal and one thali, you get a full chapatti and rice and vegetable also.

>> After more than 30 years of serving up simple cups of coffee to ministers and [ unk ] like, the shop was [ unk ] to close this year. For now, it's got an extension on its lease.

>> One time I told them, do you give me this please. I don't want to increase the rate. I can run 100, 000 rupees, put new furniture [ unk ] and then after three years, you can take back. I have no problem. I want only to common people will come and have a place to sit and with 10 rupees can take a cup of coffee not for 50. That is the-- one man can't do anything. So there must be some people have an interest for this coffee also will become--

>> This is Krista Mahr for TIME. com in New Delhi.

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