When the Specialty Coffee Association announced that plant milks could be used during the milk beverage course at the 2023 World Barista Championship, many in the industry had been anticipating this rule change for some time. 

Over the past few years, several national Barista Championship competitors had openly defied the prior rule which stipulated they could only use cow’s milk. Ultimately, these competitors’ decisions to willingly score zero in the milk course round played a key role in changing the format of the WBC – and many would agree for the better.

It comes as somewhat of a surprise, however, that the SCA Swedish chapter recently made the decision to host the first-ever fully plant-based national Latte Art Championship. Considering that plant milks often perform differently to cow’s milk, to say this is a bold move is an understatement.

So are we starting to see a wider, more inclusive shift across more of the World Coffee Championships? And if so, what could that mean for the future of the competitions?

To find out more, I spoke to Ioana Bombea, former Global Community Manager at Sproud. Read on for more of her insight.

You may also like our article on why more competitors didn’t use plant milks at the 2023 World Barista Championship.

Plant milks at coffee competitions

Plant milks are incredibly popular in the specialty coffee sector. Walk into almost any coffee shop in many countries and they will offer at least one type of non-dairy milk. In fact, some specialty coffee shops have even started defaulting to oat milk as a result of growing demand.

This rising interest in plant milks is also reflected in many coffee competitions. These range from local latte art throwdowns to events like The Barista League, where participants must serve a plant-based beverage to the judging panel.

As of December 2022, the World Barista Championship also allows plant milks – but this wasn’t always the case. Prior to this rule change, the 2022 World Barista Championship Official Rules and Regulations stated that:

“A milk beverage is a combination of 1 single shot of espresso (per the definition of espresso in the ‘Espresso’ section) and steamed cow’s milk.”

This meant national and World Barista Championship competitors had to use cow’s milk in the milk beverage course – or risk receiving zero points in the category. Of course, this would significantly decrease their chances of winning, but it was a risk some were willing to take.

Making a statement

The decision to drink plant milks can be an ethical, sustainable, or dietary choice – or even purely based on personal taste preferences. As such, prior to the 2023 WBC rule change, some national Barista Championship competitors decided to make a statement and use oat milk in their routines. Some of these include:

• Cristian Tellez, who used Minor Figures oat milk during his 2019 Canadian Barista Championship routine – effectively disqualifying him from the competition.
• In October last year, 2023 German Barista Championship competitor Mikolaj Pociecha also used oat milk for his milk beverage course.
  • Mikolaj even published an open letter to SCA Germany requesting it “refrain from the compulsory use of cow’s milk at all upcoming competitions”.

It was clear the SCA had been listening to these demands for some time, and officially announced the new plant milk rule for the 2023 competition late last year.

Given the growing pushback against the exclusive cow’s milk rule, it came as a surprise that very few 2023 WBC competitors used plant milk in their routines. One of the more notable examples was finalist Patrik Rolf, but even he only used a blend of 90% cow’s milk and 10% coconut milk.

Canadian competitor and semi-finalist Benjamin Put, meanwhile, used a blend containing 40% oat milk, while UK competitor Ian Kissick exclusively used freeze-distilled oat milk.

The first-ever plant-based national Latte Art Championship

In the years to come, it’s likely we’ll see more World Barista Championship competitors incorporate alternative milks in their routines. And at the same time, it seems the new plant milk rule is influencing other SCA competitions.

The 2023 Swedish Latte Art and Coffee in Good Spirits Championships recently took place in Stockholm, with Alexander Ntatsos winning both competitions. He will represent Sweden at both World Coffee Championship events at the Taiwan International Coffee Show from 17 to 20 November.

In an interesting twist, SCA Sweden decided to host a fully plant-based Latte Art Championship – reportedly the first-ever national competition to do so. 

As it stands, when it comes to milk, the 2023 World Latte Art Championship Rules & Regulations state:

“Competitors are required to use WLAC-provided milk during their performance. Provided milk will be whole milk,” – thus insinuating cow’s milk.

So what was the motivation behind SCA Sweden’s decision to use plant milk?

“The coffee industry is not always the most sustainable,” Ioana says. “But if there is one factor we really focus on, it’s our carbon footprint.

“Simply put, SCA Sweden and Sproud decided to show that you don’t have to sacrifice performance or taste while minimising your impact on the environment,” she adds. “We can safely assume that this year’s Swedish Latte Art Championship had the smallest carbon footprint yet!”

A sustainable choice – but what are the broader considerations?

Reducing the coffee industry’s environmental footprint can only be a good thing. Making the switch to plant milks, however, brings about a number of technical considerations.

“Hosting a fully plant-based national Latte Art Championship is a really bold move,” Ioana tells me. “While the popularity of non-dairy milks has increased considerably in the past years, their performance also varies greatly.”

Many baristas will know that plant milks must be treated differently to cow’s milk when steaming and pouring latte art. This ranges from how much air you need to incorporate into the liquid to the temperature range you should heat it to.

Moreover, despite how well some plant milks can replicate the texture and mouthfeel of dairy, it’s often more difficult to pour crisp, high-contrast latte art with plant-based drinks.

So given that WLAC judges assess several aesthetic attributes of competitors’ latte art – including foam quality, contrast between coffee and milk, level of difficulty, and overall visual appeal – using the best-performing milk is absolutely essential to receive high scores.

“You want to give all competitors a fair chance, so hosting a fully plant-based SCA-accredited competition is somewhat of a risk, and it opens the door to criticism,” Ioana explains. “SCA Sweden chose Sproud because it closely replicates cow’s milk – and we’re always trying to make it even better.”

So could the WLAC change?

Does this mean plant milks will be used at future World Latte Art Championships? More importantly, will WLAC competitors be able to choose between cow’s milk or plant milks?

While the answers are largely unknown for now, the latter question raises a valid concern that competitors who use dairy will potentially score higher. Essentially, without a level playing field, WLAC participants using plant milks could be at a disadvantage.

As it stands, the World Latte Art Championship will continue to exclusively use cow’s milk. Following the recent WBC rule update, however, this could always change.

“Now that the World Barista Championship allows plant milks, we’ll get to see more of them on the global stage,” Ioana concludes.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on what the new plant milk rule means for the future of the WBC.

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