London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Nov 08, 2025

Starbucks is running out of oat milk a month after adding it to menus nationwide

Starbucks is running out of oat milk a month after adding it to menus nationwide

Just as Grape Nuts come back to stores, Americans are faced with yet another shortage — this time, of oat milk at some Starbucks cafes.

Starbucks rolled out oat milk lattes at about 1,300 stores in the Midwest last year. It added Oatly-brand oat milk to the menu nationally in March.

But now, a mere month later, some Starbucks' oat milk fans say they have found themselves unable to order their new favorite drinks.

Some are particularly put out by the absence of the iced brown sugar shaken espresso, made with oat milk, which has amassed its own fans online (one favorably compared it to "a brown sugar pop tart.")

Others want oat milk or nothing. "Just throw my whole drink away tbh," wrote one sad Twitter user. Another used no fewer than 12 cry-face emojis to express their pain.

Starbucks said on Tuesday that some locations were out of oat milk but didn't specify how widespread the problem was.

"Due to high demand, some customers may experience a temporary shortage of oat milk at their store," a Starbucks spokesperson told CNN Business on Tuesday, adding that customers can expect oat milk to be back "soon" without offering a specific time frame. In the meantime, they might consider swapping in soy milk, almond milk or coconut milk instead, the company suggested.

Starbucks is not attributing the shortage to the popularity of specific beverages, the spokesperson said, but noted that the drinks launched this spring have been resonating with customers. Those include the brown sugar espresso, as well as an  iced chocolate almond milk shaken espresso and a honey oat milk latte.

The coffee chain has leaned into its oat milk lineup as consumer demand for plant-based milk alternatives continues to grow. US oat milk sales grew 138% over the past year, according to Nielsen data.

"Probably the most dominant shift in consumer behavior is this whole shift to plant-based," said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson during a January call with analysts. "This is why we've introduced all the alternative milks, whether it's almond milk, soy milk [or] oat milk," he said.

Oatly has also been getting attention.

Over the summer, the company scored a $200 million investment from a Blackstone-led investment group that included Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman, Jay-Z's entertainment agency and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. In February, it said it filed confidential IPO forms with the SEC. The move is "the first official step towards pursuing a potential IPO," Sara Fletcher, an Oatly spokesperson, said at the time.

As Starbucks (SBUX) sees high demand for its oat milk products, Oatly, its supplier, is struggling with its own problems. The company has struggled with supply constraints because of pandemic-related construction delays on a facility in Utah, which was supposed to open last year and is only starting to come online now, Oatly said.

Starbucks and Oatly didn't comment on whether the supply constraints were directly related to the temporary shortages that some Starbucks locations are facing.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Apple to Pay Google About One Billion Dollars Annually for Gemini AI to Power Next-Generation Siri
UK Signals Major Shift as Nuclear Arms Race Looms
BBC’s « Celebrity Traitors UK » Finale Breaks Records with 11.1 Million Viewers
UK Spy Case Collapse Highlights Implications for UK-Taiwan Strategic Alignment
On the Road to the Oscars? Meghan Markle to Star in a New Film
A Vote Worth a Trillion Dollars: Elon Musk’s Defining Day
AI Researchers Claim Human-Level General Intelligence Is Already Here
President Donald Trump Challenges Nigeria with Military Options Over Alleged Christian Killings
Nancy Pelosi Finally Announces She Will Not Seek Re-Election, Signalling End of Long Congressional Career
UK Pre-Budget Blues and Rate-Cut Concerns Pile Pressure on Pound
ITV Warns of Nine-Per-Cent Drop in Q4 Advertising Revenue Amid Budget Uncertainty
National Grid Posts Slightly Stronger-Than-Expected Half-Year Profit as Regulatory Investments Drive Growth
UK Business Lobby Urges Reeves to Break Tax Pledges and Build Fiscal Headroom
UK to Launch Consultation on Stablecoin Regulation on November 10
UK Savers Rush to Withdraw Pension Cash Ahead of Budget Amid Tax-Change Fears
Massive Spoilers Emerge from MAFS UK 2025: Couple Swaps, Dating App Leaks and Reunion Bombshells
Kurdish-led Crime Network Operates UK Mini-Marts to Exploit Migrants and Sell Illicit Goods
UK Income Tax Hike Could Trigger £1 Billion Cut to Scotland’s Budget, Warns Finance Secretary
Tommy Robinson Acquitted of Terror-related Charge After Phone PIN Dispute
Boris Johnson Condemns Western Support for Hamas at Jewish Community Conference
HII Welcomes UK’s Westley Group to Strengthen AUKUS Submarine Supply Chain
Tragedy in Serbia: Coach Mladen Žižović Collapses During Match and Dies at 44
Diplo Says He Dated Katy Perry — and Justin Trudeau
Dick Cheney, Former U.S. Vice President, Dies at 84
Trump Calls Title Removal of Andrew ‘Tragic Situation’ Amid Royal Fallout
UK Bonds Rally as Chancellor Reeves Briefs Markets Ahead of November Budget
UK Report Backs Generational Smoking Ban Ahead of Tobacco & Vapes Bill Review
UK’s Domino’s Pizza Group Reports Modest Like-for-Like Sales Growth in Q3
UK Supplies Additional Storm Shadow Missiles to Ukraine as Trump Alleges Russian Underground Nuclear Tests
High-Profile Broodmare Puca Sells for Five Million Dollars at Fasig-Tipton ‘Night of the Stars’
Wilt Chamberlain’s One-of-a-Kind ‘Searcher 1’ Supercar Heads to Auction
Erling Haaland’s Remarkable Run: 13 Premier League Goals in 10 Matches and Eyes on History
UK Labour Peer Warns of Emerging ‘Constituency for Hating Jews’ in Britain
UK Home Secretary Admits Loss of Border Control, Warns Public Trust at Risk
President Trump Expresses Sympathy for UK Royal Family After Title Stripping of Prince Andrew
Former Prince Andrew to Lose His Last Military Title as King Charles Moves to End His Public Role
King Charles Relocates Andrew to Sandringham Estate and Strips Titles Amid Epstein Fallout
Two Arrested After Mass Stabbing on UK Train Leaves Ten Hospitalised
Glamour UK Says ‘Stay Mad Jo x’ After Really Big Rowling Backlash
Former Prince Prince Andrew Faces Possible U.S. Congressional Appearance Over Jeffrey Epstein Inquiry
UK Faces £20 Billion Productivity Shortfall as Brexit’s Impact Deepens
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Eyes New Council-Tax Bands for High-Value Homes
UK Braces for Major Storm with Snow, Heavy Rain and Winds as High as 769 Miles Wide
U.S. Secures Key Southeast Asia Agreements to Reshape Rare Earth Supply Chains
US and China Agree One-Year Trade Truce After Trump-Xi Talks
BYD Profit Falls 33 % as Chinese EV Maker Doubles Down on Overseas Markets
US Philanthropists Shift Hundreds of Millions to UK to Evade Regulatory Uncertainty in Trump Era
Israeli Energy Minister Delays $35 Billion Gas Export Agreement with Egypt
King Charles Strips Prince Andrew of Titles and Royal Residence
Trump–Putin Budapest Summit Cancelled After Moscow Memo Raises Conditions for Ukraine Talks
×