Wanaka cafés are seeing more and more customers choose dairy-free milks in their coffees and are accommodating this by offering a range of alternatives.

Recent figures from café-bar Kai Whakapai show a rapid increase in the demand for plant-based milks. 

In summer 2020, 12.4 per cent of customers ordered non-dairy milks; by July that was up to 17.8 per cent; and so far this year it has topped 20 per cent. 

“More people are becoming more aware of alternative milks and drinking it with the coffee,” Kai Whakapai owner Nick Abrams said. 

“There are a lot more products coming into the market that froth a lot better and are more useful for making good coffee.”

Annual statistics from Kai Whakapai show locals are loving their coffee with plant-based milk. 

Big Fig Wanaka opened five years ago with just soy milk and cow’s milk on the menu.

Now it has six types of milk (or mylk - an alternative term for non-dairy milks) on rotation - they’ve added almond, oat, coconut and macadamia - in response to changing consumption habits.

“With alternative milks we are in a constant state of product research. We are always looking for milks to stay ahead of consumer preferences – but they have to be barista-friendly and produce great coffees,” Big Fig co-owner Shaz Lahood said.

“I always ask which milk customers want with their coffee and I’m often surprised when they ask for cow’s milk. It’s changed a lot in the last two years. Oat especially is on the rise – it seems it’s a really sustainable and healthy option."

The move away from cow’s milk does have some downsides, Shaz said, as alternative milks come in non-recyclable tetra pak containers. Cow’s milk, on the other hand, comes in recyclable plastic and Big Fig’s supplier even collects and recycles them on behalf of the cafe.

Alchemy barista Danielle Cummings drinks oat milk with her coffee.

“I’m vegetarian and I’m becoming more conscious of how much dairy I’m consuming. I also love the taste of oat milk - it’s as creamy as cow’s milk and it tastes better.”

Some locals, however, wouldn’t dream of giving up cow’s milk and local Phil Nicolson remains skeptical. 

“Some of these alternative milks are quite new, and it’ll be quite interesting to see the long-term [health] effects. On the whole, cow's milk has stood the test of time because it’s been used for hundreds of years,” he said.

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