The super popular Starbucks started offering oat milk back in January 2020 to only their midwest locations. After expanding the dairy alternative nationwide, Starbucks is facing a shortage of the Oatly’s Oat Milk.

The popularity of oat milk grew so much within a few years. The Swedish company Oatly started the new wave of plant based milk with their oat milk. Besides milk, Oatly produces oat-based creamer, yogurt, and ice cream. According to SPINS, oat milk has become number 2 in plant based dairy products, with almond milk being number one. It was only a matter of time before Starbucks joined in on the wave.

To test out the new product, Starbucks brought oat milk to all 1,300 locations in the Midwest. After positive reviews, Starbucks announced on their website that the Oatly oat milk will be available for all locations starting March 2, 2021. New drinks with the Oatly oat milk are Honey Oat milk Latte and the Brown Sugar Oat milk Iced Shaken Espresso. 

A month after the release, Starbucks is facing a shortage of their new dairy alternative. The new oat milk drinks became wildly popular and customers would add oat milk to their regular orders. To help slow down the consumption of oat milk, Starbucks made customers order through their app or online to get oat milk. Starbucks was then forced to remove the product from their menus and customers were quick to get mad on Twitter.

As of right now, Starbucks representatives have not given a time table of when oat milk will return. They are encouraging customers to have their other dairy alternatives like almond milk and soy milk for the time being.