How one barista plant-milk brand helps cafés to innovate their menus and remove the guesswork from identifying emerging trends.
Like all generations that came before it, Gen Z is breaking the mould. From eschewing alcohol to bringing back Noughties fashion, the under-28s are leading the charge when it comes to trends – including coffee.
Milklab has done its research and knows Gen Z loves to experiment with flavours. From unique combinations to bold twists and innovative creations, drink variety and flair are on the rise. To stay in tune with emerging fashions and capture the attention of this dynamic demographic, Milklab is working closely with cafés across Australia.
The barista plant-milk brand’s strategic drinks programs, such as Summer Sensations, involve sharing curated beverage offerings that combine innovative flavours, cost-effective recipes, and trending concepts with cafés to attract and engage customers. These programs unlock a plethora of possibilities to cater to Gen Z’s discerning palate while also boosting cafés’ bottom lines.
“We wanted to create a program that could be taken to cafés, especially those that may be resource poor and not able to spend time researching emerging trends. We wanted to give them everything they need to take advantage of this opportunity,” says Milklab Brand Manager Melanie Ung.
“When designing this program, we were intentional about enabling cafés to attract new customers, whether that’s the Gen Z audience or simply upselling existing customers with higher-margin cold drinks.”
The programs are designed to give cafés a way to stay on top of trends without having to dive deep into data or constantly compare themselves to others. For its Summer Sensations program, Milklab identified a key insight in the café industry – the rise of iced drinks.
“While cafés could choose to simply promote their iced lattes more, this program equipped them to take it to the next level. For venues that may not be up to date with drink trends, this was a way to attract a new generation of customers who may not have visited their café before,” says Melanie.
She adds that the programs are designed to take the research and development costs and trial-and-error process out of innovating menus, because not every café has a mixologist on staff, a team that are on top of the latest flavour fashions, or the time to research and experiment with different recipes.
“This program provides a simple way for them to adopt new trends without spending too much time or effort on it,” says Melanie.
Not only does it expand menu possibilities, but it’s also cost-effective. Milklab has carefully considered the costs involved in making standard drinks to ensure there is an adequate markup for cafés.
“We’re aware that every café has different costings, so we make sure to compare the drinks’ costs to a standard hot latte based on average RRPs. From a margin perspective, we ensure cafés would make more money. There’s no point in giving them a great drink idea if it costs $5 to make and only sells for $6. This is all part of the background work we do to ensure the drinks we suggest are both appealing and profitable,” says Melanie.
Although the flavour combinations can be complex, Milklab creates the recipes with ingredients cafés would already likely have on hand.
“Another thing we are intentional about when creating the recipes is ensuring they are as operationally simple as possible for cafés. We aim to use ingredients that cafés are likely already carrying, like vanilla syrup,” she says.
If a new ingredient is needed, Milklab ensures it is easy to source and not rare or expensive. For example, the ingredients for the Summer Sensations matcha recipe included matcha and strawberry puree, and Oreo cookies for the cookies and cream creation.
“Our goal is to make the recipes accessible and not intimidating for cafés,” says Melanie.
What’s more, Milklab has made participation as simple as possible: once on board, cafés have access to recipe cards if they prefer written instructions, or video tutorials for visual learners.
“The tutorials – made in collaboration with Golden Brown Coffee – walk through the tips and tricks for making the drinks and how to make the process more operationally efficient in the café,” says Melanie.
Milklab also provides a comprehensive point-of-sale suite to help cafés promote their new drinks. This includes counter strut cards, window decals, and a digital toolkit with social media tiles to promote the new recipes to their online community.
According to Melanie, the Summer Sensations program was a success, with a great sign-up rate and interest from multi-site operators looking to roll it out across multiple locations.
Overall, she says more than 600 cafés nationwide took part.
“The biggest surprise and success came from the level of engagement we saw from the cafés themselves. We received a lot of user-generated content – cafés, staff, and baristas were posting everything from unboxing their kits and setting up the point-of-sale materials to making the drinks and creating creative posts on their own social media,” says Melanie.
When Milklab created the range, the team were eager to offer a mix of drinks that included some simple-but-effective options and some that were more complex. As a result, participating cafés were keen to adopt the entire range of drinks.
“We included options made with coffee, matcha, and even non-caffeinated options to cover a variety of café styles. We initially thought some venues might pick just one or two drinks to roll out, but we were pleasantly surprised that many chose to implement all four signature drinks,” says Melanie.
Building on the success of the Summer Sensations drinks program, Milklab is now preparing to launch a Winter Warmers program. Similar to the summer version, Milklab will focus on blending classic drinks with trending flavours to create a selection of recipes that will appeal to a broad range of consumer preferences.
“We’ll be leaning on our Milklab signature drinks and including more of our plant-based range. These are the main focuses as we plan the next set of drinks,” says Melanie.
“Cafés should stay tuned to our social media channels because that’s where we’ll launch the Winter Warmers program once it’s ready to go live. They will just need to fill out a form with their details so we can send out their kits, and then we’ll take care of everything they need to create their winter drinks menu.”
For more information, visit milklabco.com
This article appears in the April/May 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
