Why cafes really charge more for milk alternatives

It's no surprise to anyone who buys coffees out that getting almond, soy or oat milk instead of full cream costs more.

But while it's true these milk alternatives do cost more for the cafes to stock, there's another reason your barista is surcharging you, according to one small business owner.

Dan Dick owns the Nigel chain of cafes around Melbourne and he said having six different types of milk on offer complicates his job and slows down workflow.

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"It definitely affects our bottom line, in the takeaway coffee business time is money and anything that essentially slows down the process - it comes at a cost," he told Today.

Dan said first and foremost, his business was always about hospitality, but he said it was important to recognise the pressures that most businesses and people, in general, are focusing on at the moment.

"So if we can find ways to incentivise our clientele to help improve our synergies from a workflow perspective and pass that value back onto them, then I think it's prudent as operators that we explore those options," he said.

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"We're in the industry of saying yes as many times as we can and I think if you cast your mind back to when this all started, I remember 15 years ago when I was first working in cafes and someone put soy milk on the bench, I thought, this will never last - but skip forward and my four venues offer up to six different milks.

"Of course we surcharge, the product comes at a price and we're lucky that our consumers are most of all, pretty happy to pay that extra cost for the thing that suits their preferences."

Do you agree with why cafes like Dan's charge more? Let us know