Oat milk upcharge: how much should you charge?

Oat milk upcharges are one of the most argued-about prices on a drink menu. Customers notice them, and owners often aren't sure what the swap really costs. The good news is that it's easy to work out, because it's only the difference between two milks.

What the swap really costs

We pay $5.00 a gallon for whole milk and $7.00 for oat milk. In a typical recipe, a Regular uses 120 ml of milk and a Large 170 ml. The extra cost is the price difference per ml, times the ml in the cup:

Even a 50¢ upcharge more than covers the swap at these prices. Your numbers depend on your milk prices and how much milk your recipe uses, so measure both.

If oat milk goes up

Say your supplier raises oat milk to $8.50 a gallon. The extra cost becomes 11.1¢ in a Regular and 15.7¢ in a Large, and a 75¢ upcharge still keeps about 79%. That's the point of knowing the real number: a price rise that sounds big can be small per cup, or the other way round.

What the big chains do

Starbucks stopped charging extra for non-dairy milk in its U.S. and Canada company-operated stores from November 7, 2024. Nation's Restaurant News reported the old upcharge averaged 70 to 90 cents. Axios noted that other chains, including Dunkin' and Peet's, still charged at the time. A chain can absorb that cost across thousands of stores; an independent shop should decide with its own numbers.

How to set yours

• Keep an upcharge that covers the swap with room to spare, and say what it's for. Customers accept a price they understand.
• Fold it into the price if most of your customers choose oat milk anyway: raise the base price a little and drop the upcharge.
• Check the whole drink, not just the extra. A Large with oat milk and two toppings can fall below your target even if every upcharge looks fine on its own.

BiteMetrics does this for every size and add-on on your menu, and shows which drinks a new milk price affects. Try your own numbers in the free calculator, or start free.