Starbucks has found a way to make drinks taste just as sweet while using far less sugar, in a move designed to soften the financial blow of Labour’s planned sugar tax.
By switching to naturally sweeter coffee beans that need fewer syrups and sauces, the chain has been able to cut calories in hopes that customers won't notice a change in flavour.
The company has completed a three-month trial using blonde roast beans instead of its standard espresso roast, allowing baristas to prepare popular drinks with reduced sugar content..
The experiment comes as the hospitality sector braces for new anti-obesity rules expected to target restaurants, takeaway outlets, coffee shops and bakeries.
Think tank Nesta, which advised Starbucks during the trial, believes similar calorie-reduction strategies across the wider coffee sector could produce economic benefits worth £100million through higher workforce productivity and lower NHS spending on obesity-related care.
The chain replaced its default espresso beans with a lighter "blonde roast" to cut sugar without altering flavour. A mocha made with the blonde roast contained an average of 14.5 fewer calories and 3.3g less sugar.
The move is seen within the industry as preparation for sweeping changes coming to the out of home food sector. Labour has already said supermarkets will be fined if they fail to cut 100 calories from the average shopping basket, and similar rules are expected to be extended to restaurants, fast food chains, coffee shops and bakeries.
Ministers have not yet confirmed menu targets, but restaurant bosses expect the new rules to mirror those for supermarkets and to require tracking of calories, fat, sugar and salt sold to customers.
The plans form part of Wes Streeting’s 10-year strategy to improve the nation’s health. He has warned that without action, the rising cost of obesity-related care risks making the NHS "unsustainable", with obesity currently costing the health service £11billion a year.
Starbucks trials very clever trick to keep coffee sweet while dodging new sugar tax
| PAThe push to reform recipes comes ahead of a second regulatory threat. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to remove the long standing dairy exemption from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, a shift critics have labelled a milkshake tax.
The levy currently applies to drinks such as Coca Cola and Pepsi but not to sweetened milk based beverages. The planned change would extend the levy to frappés, flavoured lattes, sweetened dairy alternatives and other milk based drinks, raising an estimated £100million a year from April 2027.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride criticised the move and said it would see "businesses that played by the rules punished all to save Rachel Reeves's skin".
Industry groups say the combination of calorie rules and a milkshake tax represents a major financial threat to high street chains and their customers.
Hospitality leaders already warn that businesses are struggling with what they describe as a perfect storm of rising bills. Labour has raised employers national insurance contributions and increased the national minimum wage. Interest rates remain high and hospitality businesses report that customers are still cutting discretionary spending.
Nesta, the think tank that supported Starbucks during its calorie reduction trial
| StarbucksNesta is expected to help the Government shape the next stage of policy.
Dr John Barber, deputy director of healthy life at Nesta, said the success at Starbucks may seem "modest on an individual basis, but if the wider coffee sector were to adopt similarly simple, scalable changes, our analysis shows there is potential to unlock significant benefits in improved health".
He added that "this trial provides compelling, real world evidence that subtle changes to improve people's health can be acceptable to customers and viable for business".
What remains unclear is who will pay for the reforms. If the levy expands to cover milk based drinks, coffee chains face additional production costs, reformulation expenses and potential fines if calorie reduction targets are missed.
The chain replaced its default espresso beans with a lighter "blonde roast" to cut sugar without altering flavour
| GETTYIndustry analysts say that high margin items such as frappés, seasonal lattes and speciality drinks would be the most financially exposed under the levy.
With households already squeezed by the cost of living, any further price increases risk driving customers away from the high street altogether.
Earlier this year, the Charity The Food Foundation welcomed the consultation but said the government needs to be more ambitious and include food in the sugar tax "if the government is serious about improving diets, our health and the economy".
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