# Lactofree Milk in London (& a call to action for all the independent coffee shops)



## Delfi

Do any decent coffee shops in the big smoke use Lacto free milk? If not, why not?

My other half is lactose intolerant. Although Soya milk seems to be everywhere - does anywhere use Lactofree? (Like the rest of us she enjoys a good flat white when she's out and about.

Cost wise it's the same price as her forced to go-to of Soya. Taste wise it seems indistinguishable to real milk (at least to my palate). Frothing wise, it seems to work just as well (unlike what I've seen from Soya in both cases)

Soya: 1 litre is £1.39 (@ Tesco)

Lactofree: 1L = £1.35

Std Milk: ~ 90p

So given Gluten free is on the rise , why not accommodate those lactose intolerant people too, even if they have to be charged a little more due to raw materials?

(please note that I do not work for Lactofree....)


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## Yes Row

I agree. My wife is lactose intolerant and the times she has been serve "split" soya milk in coffee shops! ( this happens when it goes off)

We only ever use Lactofree milk at home, I cannot tell the difference and its regularly £2 for 2 ltrs in Tesco

In my opinion coffee shops need to get with this as its a growing issue, mainly in women though,???


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## philwbass

First time I heard of Lactofree TM, be interesting to see how it works.

Lots of great options for lactose intolerant as coffee tastes great without milk.

But in London, several are going the almond milk option (try Kaffeine) although it sits on rather than blends with the coffee.

Mel Southerden's pastry shop in Peckham is using a blend of almond and macadamia in Monmouth which works well.


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## Milanski

It's probably just lack of awareness of the brand.

Both almond and soya milk for me, taste grim in coffee (tho it's not often I dilute the black nectar).

Can't see otherwise why they wouldn't go for an option that is almost indistinguishable...


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## hotmetal

I like that almond milk, though I've only drank it straight rather than in coffee. Lactose-free milk is just ordinary milk with a bit of lactase in to 'pre digest' the lactose for those who need it, so it should be perfectly feasible for cafes to use it on request (not that I know anything about running a café for the record). It would cost a bit more (normal semi costs a quid for 2 litres) but if I was lactose intolerant I'd rather pay say 20-30p more rather than drink soya.


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## Milanski

Almond milk is nice (and way healthier than standard full fat milk which contains fat, antibiotics, growth hormone and puss), just not in coffee (for me at least).


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## Delfi

Out of interest, does anyone on here run a coffee shop and have any thoughts? Seems like there is a market opportunity.......


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## hotmetal

I don't really know what proportion of the (potential coffee-drinking) population actually suffer from lactose intolerance, so not sure how much of a gap in the market it is. But if shops can offer soya then they could also offer this. Question is probably one of awareness. Is lactose the only reason people go to soya? If so, lactose-free milk is a no brainer because it's just normal milk with a little added enzyme. But if soya keeps vegans happy, or people choose it because health or women's magazines promote soya as a 'superfood' then cafes might be inclined to stick with soya and probably view lactose free milk as too niche. How many extra customers would they get? Then again it wouldn't hurt: instead of buying 2 bottles of soya, get 1 Alpro and one Lactofree and trial it for a month or two.


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## spune

Good shout, Delfi. Maybe it's something that should be asked for to increase demand, instead of settling for soya.

The more I hear of the negative side of soya production the less favourable an option it seems. Mind you, agriculture to produce milk can't be all good either... Going off topic.

Up the Lactofree™!


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## Yes Row

The good thing about Lactofree milk is that the coffee shop never needs to waste it, it can just use it for anybody if it needs using up, that is not the same for Soya milk as its shite


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## Delfi

...although if i were a coffeeshop owner I might be slightly concerned about mis-selling.

(That being said I don't think I would be able to tell the difference under blind test conditions)


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## innatelogic

Delfi said:


> Do any decent coffee shops in the big smoke use Lacto free milk? If not, why not?
> 
> My other half is lactose intolerant. Although Soya milk seems to be everywhere - does anywhere use Lactofree? (Like the rest of us she enjoys a good flat white when she's out and about.
> 
> Cost wise it's the same price as her forced to go-to of Soya. Taste wise it seems indistinguishable to real milk (at least to my palate). Frothing wise, it seems to work just as well (unlike what I've seen from Soya in both cases)
> 
> Soya: 1 litre is £1.39 (@ Tesco)
> 
> Lactofree: 1L = £1.35
> 
> Std Milk: ~ 90p
> 
> So given Gluten free is on the rise , why not accommodate those lactose intolerant people too, even if they have to be charged a little more due to raw materials?
> 
> (please note that I do not work for Lactofree....)


I'd imagine the wholesale price difference is much greater than the high street one. At a guess it'd make a big dent in profits for a small shop to move to lactose free for everyone. Awareness of lactose intolerance seems to be on the rise but the incidence per person is low (~5%) in Northern Europe. If other areas (where incidence can be as high as 70%) get keen on milky coffee then the tides might turn.

The thing is in cultures where there is high lactose intolerance they tend not to develop a taste for cows milk and butter in all the things!


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## Yes Row

Delfi said:


> ...although if i were a coffeeshop owner I might be slightly concerned about mis-selling.
> 
> (That being said I don't think I would be able to tell the difference under blind test conditions)


Hardly mis-selling...its just milk


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## hotmetal

Exactly. I don't think you can tell the difference. The tiny bit of lactase they add won't affect the taste. The difference is less than comparing normal vs filtered (eg Cravendale). Selling lactose free milk to someone that didn't ask for it is a non-issue (cost aside). Mis-selling would only be an issue if you sold normal milk to lactose intolerant customers and told then it was lactose free.


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## Barry Cook

I own a coffee shop, and I would imagine that most owners will think the same as me so hopefully this will be an insight.

Firstly, going over to lacto-free milk completely would be an issue from a financial perspective. The cost that most cafes/coffee shops will pay for their milk will be a bit less than the Tescos price quoted, as they will generally buy from wholesale. Lacto-free will probably be bought from the local supermarket, so the price difference between wholesale regular milk and supermarket-priced lacto-free will be quite a bit. Personally, we're lucky enough to have an excellent organic dairy farm who produce and deliver our milk (normally milked the day before delivery), but we are also happy to pay more for it due to the quality, so we wouldn't consider changing over.

Secondly, although taste issues wouldn't cause a problem, when customers notice the packaging on the carton their milk comes from I would imagine that some customers would think of refusing it as it's not what they know. I personally would have an issue with supplying something to my customers that wasn't quite what i would expect it to be.

Thirdly, there will be labelling on the bottle indicating that you have to use within "x" amount of days of opening (probably 3-5 days). As business owners, we have to adhere to this, whereas if you were to use it at home it wouldn't be a problem finishing it off after that date. So, if I was to use regular milk for most but get in a carton of lacto-free and open it today, anything potentially left by end of play Saturday would have to be thrown away.

Lastly, if any half-decent business person could see that it would benefit their business financially by offering an extra type of milk, they would do. Quite simply, for most coffee shops, there is so little demand for this type of product that it would lose them a lot of money over a period of time. We did used to use lacto-free in our old shop as we had a couple of customers who drunk it, so it mostly got used up, but we have yet to have one single request for it in the year we have been in our new place.

I'm sure certain areas have a demand, London obviously because of the sheer population density, but even then it will be varying demand in different areas of London.

Just ask if this doesn't answer all the question about it.


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## Yes Row

I bet if you advertised you had it people would ask for it. My wife has never managed to find it in a coffee shop so has black or Soya. I guess by default a majority of soya drinkers are either veg/vegan or lactose intolerant.


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## Barry Cook

YesRow, thanks for your response.

Regarding paid-for advertising, such as advert in the paper or advert hoarding on the street, that would be an incredibly inefficient use of the funds. They are generally quite expensive and it's not targeted marketing (especially a problem when you provide a "speciality" product, as you have no interest in attracting Costa/Starbucks/Nero customers) most of the people who would see it wouldn't consider coming to you anyway.

As for in-store notices, it's difficult enough to get the majority of people to read everything else that's displayed for them. At the top of our coffee board, it reads "COFFEES" with "decaf available" written next to it, but we still regularly get asked if we serve decaf. At the bottom of the board, it states Extra Shot, Soya Milk, and Syrup Shot with relevant prices, but again we regularly get asked if we serve soya. And we also have a board on prominent display detailing why we serve our milk at the proper temperature, but guess what? Yes, people still bring coffees back to the counter asking for them to be hotter. Now, I have no problem with the fact that people don't notice these signs, but what I'm trying to point out is that you can promote things 'til you're blue in the face and they still won't get noticed.

Please remember that us business owners are not daft or ignorant or evil







we just need to be able to operate a business profitably, however small that profit may be, and a few "little" things like this can potentially turn a business from profitable to loss-making. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that coffee is as much of a profit maker as the press like you to think, as they never include the costs not related directly to the sale. It's unlikely many are in the coffee trade for the money, they're doing it because they enjoy what they do and have left more secure better paid jobs to do this, therefore they want to look after their customer as much as possible, but still within reason. I share a 12yr old VW Beetle with my wife which we drive to work (bought new when we had jobs that paid a real wage, and most definitely can't afford a second car), haven't had a holiday for 7 years and rarely get to have days out, all of which were regular occurences back in the day.

If we were to cater to every dietary or personal request then we quite simply would have no business:/


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## chinery

I love Lactofree milk, I use it at home exclusively. I'm not surprised more coffee shops don't offer it though. Running an extra type of milk adds a lot of complexity to cost, making sure it all stays fresh, and procedure in making sure the right milk jugs get used etc. Lactofree only caters for lactose intolerant whereas soya caters for dairy intolerant, vegan, etc. So it would mean adding a third type of milk.

I am also certain that there are differences from regular milk that would be discernible, if not by the customer then by the barista. The way the milk textures is most noticeable. I'm not saying this is necessarily due to the lack of lactose, but it's possible to notice the difference between two brands of regular milk.

That said, I've never asked if a shop sells it just because I never expect anywhere to do so. I think that's poor reasoning to suggest that not being asked means there is no demand for it. Even if I agree the demand is probably not that high.

As a tip to anyone suffering who may be unaware, you can buy lactase tablets which should prevent or massively reduce the bad reaction to regular milk when taken with the drink. They sell them in Holland and Barrett but are very expensive so wait for a sale. I got a massive pack off Amazon which are individually packaged, so I just make sure there's always a bunch in my bag.


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## Barry Cook

Hi Chinery

Glad to get response, as more than happy to debate!

Your point re demand is perfectly valid as I'm sure there are people who would prefer it but just don't ask - unfortunately my mind-reading skills are pretty poor







. Maybe for a very busy cafe it would be worth their while trying to find out the real level of demand, but not sure how they would do that. As for us, a pretty small low volume coffee shop, customers asking the question is the only sensible way of determining our market. Also, gut instinct goes a long way towards making a decision to offer something different.

And yes, a good barista will find a difference between different milks. Even individual brands of soya will steam (and separate) differently. NB I find Marks & Spencer soya milk the best to work with.

I hope none of this comes across poorly, as I am always happy to debate - unlike one of my old regulars, a school teacher, who refused point blank to entertain the suggestion that Fairtrade may not have been all that fair and would rather preach about all that's perfect about it. And nowadays she has changed job and become a, erm, preacher.


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## Delfi

I'm glad that this post is providing a good discussion point. Big thanks to all - particularly Barry - whom seems to be the only cafe owner to step forward and help us plebs probe this issue.

I can certainly take on board the concerns over the marginal economics of the situation in smaller shops. Speaking for my mrs, she would happily pay a bit extra to have a lactofree coffee. As to cost of sourcing - I wonder how many shops would buy direct from a retail supermarket, or whether they would crack a trade deal (although I would have thought that at trade prices Lactofree would likely be much more than std. milk - but I could be wrong - but the point of this is comparing Lactofree vs another substitute - at trade level is it much more than Soya? ). The earlier suggestion of use for a normal coffee was, I think, aimed at reducing waste as no one would know the difference.

As to advertising, again, external costly advertising is clearly a non starter. Internal advertising doesn't sound too onerous - albeit noted on peoples general ability to read displayed information - however without it displayed as possibly available, it relies on the customers initiative to ask. Having asked a lot - we have now largely given up asking - I always keep an eye on the 'alternatives' section of the menu just in case. The result - 2 things.

1) she will end up ordering a substitute drink, be it something non milky or something soya based.

2) we wont bother as she would rather wait to go home and DIY. From the economic point of view; you are either quids in as we have ordered anyway, or out of pocket as we've left without buying anything, or those costly yummy cakey type addons that are frequently available. This optionality split then would need to be considered with your expectation of customer spend per head walking through the door.

But the question of how many people this would apply to is a valid one - as an extension it would be interesting to hear how much coffee shops sell alternative drinks....e.g. soya, almond, those weird syrupy things, boozey variants etc vs the std varieties.

A simple thing I could perhaps urge shops to do, is perhaps do a survey of people ordering non lactose containing drinks - perhaps just talking to them at the till (if they are small and have a friendly customer base), perhaps a 'sign up here for lacto free (or other) ' things. Perhaps next to the Soya, Extra shot etc, a 'Lactofree - subject to availability' could be put up.

As a further point to discuss - might be interesting to hear experiences of those whom have used lactofree. I usually use full fat normal milk and make the mrs a semi-skimmed lacto free. I'm not the worlds best microfoamer - my latte art is more picasso like than some - but I seem to get acceptable results (although for a true side by side i should really get some full fat lactofree.


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## Delfi

Hi all, I'm Delfi's lactose intolerant mrs and think I need to join in the conversation.

I found some interesting stats online. It appears that 5% of the UK population is lactose intolerant, vs. only 1% of vegans (stats pages linked below if you're feeling nerdy). Almond or any other variation of nut milk cannot be drunk by those with nut allergies (and let's be honest, almond microfoam sounds so wrong and is seriously watery). Soya was in the past hailed as a superfood wonder, but now research shows thay it contains so much oestrogen that by drinking just 2 glasses a day a woman's period will alter in the short term, and we are all aware of the long term link between increased oestrogen levels and breast/ovarian cancer- hardly an healthy alternative to normal milk!

It will not come as a surprise that I'm loving my flat whites with lactofree, but I've stopped asking at coffee shops, as the answer is always negative, and the barista will propose soya as an alternative, which I take as a personal offence. The only reason (i believe) small coffee shops are selling soya is because big chains like (evil) starbucks have introduced it on the coffee shop market. Could it be that myself and the rest of the 5% of the population must once again rely on the big chains to introduce lactose free milk on the coffee scene?

https://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=753#

http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/l/lactose-intolerance

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/nov/07/foodanddrink.features7


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## Mrboots2u

Perhaps you've found a niche in the market you can exploit, you seem very passionate about it. A cafe for you and Mr delfi perhaps


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## Mrboots2u

How big is the market tho for a single shop to take a risk on.

5 percent lactose intolerant

What % like coffee

What % then like speciality coffee ?

What % may fit the above but don't like the house blend your serving ( dark , light etc )

As Barry said small money for little cafes. Probably easier for Starbucks to take the risk. They pay no tax for a start and their mark up is significantly bigger

Plus they can leverage massive marketing spends and footfalls


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