I've read all the debates about the merits of 2% vs whole, but is everyone still offering the option of skim milk or do you just go with one variety as your standard? I staked out a sbux the other day to see what people were ordering and in 1 hour only one person ordered a skinny. (What really kills me is when they come in and order a skim something w/ whip!)

Is it worth it to have it take up 'fridge space? I wish you could just fill the pitcher w/ about 1 oz whole milk and the rest water 'cause that's about what it is...how appetizing is that?!

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I think most everyone still stocks skim. I know I sell I significant numbers of skim drinks every shift. I prefer whole for lattes etc, but I actually like skim for lots of things. It's not just watered down, it has more protein.
I'd be afraid that if I staked out an SBUX i might not even see anyone order a coffee beverage! Everyone I see with a bux cup has tea or a smoothie frap whatever they do these days.
I like skim more than soy still and we DEFINITELY stock soy.
We stock skim, and I think that it is needed. However, we don't provide skim on our condiment bar. We give it up when someone asks but it isn't kept out. I wouldn't keep 2%. If someone wants it, mix 1 part whole with 1 part skim and poof you have 2%.
We're seeing more and more people wanting skim because it's less fattening, but it does drive me crazy when people say, "Whip? Oh heavens yes...that's why I go with skim! Hardy-har-har!"
I stock up on skim and whole. I even prefer using the froth I get from skim on my caps. When I make caps for myself I use a mix of 1/2 n 1/2 and whole for the liquid part and really dry foam using skim. There used to be a coffee shop that all they carried was skim and 1/2 n 1/2. They did a combination of both to make whole.
At The Spro, 25% of our dairy is skim milk and we order accordingly. I prefer not to have it but too many people would complain if we didn't.
We stock skim, and it is about 25% of our sales as well. We initially thought that we'd use less skim since our other milk option is 2%, but that appears to have had no impact. People will not accept 2% as a substitute for skim.
no whole?

Brady said:
We stock skim, and it is about 25% of our sales as well. We initially thought that we'd use less skim since our other milk option is 2%, but that appears to have had no impact. People will not accept 2% as a substitute for skim.
No whole.
We stock 1% & Whole. Skim is just too watery tasting in my book. Same here ~25% skinnies. Don't recall a single complaint offering customer 1% when they ask for skim in 18 months so far.
What is the reasoning there?

Brady said:
No whole.
Jesse -D-> said:
What is the reasoning there?
Brady said:
No whole.

I probably should have seen this coming. OK, here goes...

When we set up our shop, we decided to offer 2% instead of whole because we felt the "passive" benefits for our customers outweighed the negatives. We felt that, for our best-selling beverages - vanilla lattes, mochas, and the ever popular white mocha, the difference in the finished drink was not significant. (Sure you can use that reasoning to use crap espresso... but that's different, really).

Honestly, I just got tired of handing customers 16oz vanilla lattes as they were venting about their inability to lose weight - knowing that if I suggested they choose the small they'd get offended and go somewhere else... been there, done that. I decided we could do something to help them without them even knowing it. (Does that make any sense given that we have a 20oz white mocha on the menu? No, but that's another discussion.)

I know some of you are horrified by this, but honestly it works well for us. We've had nothing but compliments on our espresso drinks... in fact nobody seems to have noticed. Why? I think its because, even with 2%, the fact that our espresso is fresh and properly extracted and our milk is steamed to-order (only once) and textured properly makes a beverage that is better than anything else you can get in our area.

Would our drinks taste better if we used whole milk? Clearly. We'll probably switch to whole milk as the standard for our latte, cappuccino, and macchiato (the drinks where the creamy texture and subtle flavors of milk are best appreciated) one of these days. We've been toying with that change for a while, and happen to have a gallon of whole in the fridge today.

So there it is. You've outed me... I know parts of this sound like I'm making excuses - but I'm just trying to explain our decision here.
I can respect that. Maybe you should start using 1 part half and half and 2 parts 2% for you caps. They should be creamy, although I agree that the difference (unless tasted side by side) is negligible.

Fat people need our help.

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