Milk-free March? Czech cafés drop plant-milk surcharge this month

Veganuary, dry February, and now you could be set to add dairy-free March to the calendar, as cafés across the Czech Republic have signed up for a new campaign to promote plant-based milks, offering hot drinks with the alternative milk options at no extra cost.

Often dairy-free milks can cost slightly extra than regular milk, with a small fee added on, something that is not exclusive to the Czech Republic, but around 30 eateries in the country have dropped the surcharge for the next month.

The initiative is part of a project by a group called Rostlinně which tries to highlight plant-based food and drink options across the country. As part of this effort have teamed up with culinary company Green Heads, which distributes bio and dairy-free products to companies in the Czech Republic.

Explaining why they decided to launch March Month without Surcharge, the Rostlinně website says:

"The event will bring new visitors to the companies, the baristas will test their skills in latte art with a new product and find out that oatmeal mousse can also be whipped perfectly, and at the end of March the vegetable milk will have more fans."

Cafés all over the Czech Republic will be taking part including a number in Prague as well as in Brno and Ostrava with a full list of participants available on the Rostlinně website. Owners of Brno café HejwiCafe, told Aktualne.cz why they wanted to take part in this initiative.

Plant-based milks include soy, almond, oat, coconut, and rice with an ever-expanding range of companies offering non-dairy alternatives.

According to research from Nielsen, published in E15, 2019 saw a huge jump in the amount spent on dairy milk alternatives. CZK 314 million was spent over those twelve months which is a year-on-year increase of seventeen percent from 2018.