M&S brings back whole milk coffees as young opt for healthy fats

MARKS and Spencer cafés have switched to whole milk as their default option, as full-fat milk experiences a health renaissance.

If customers want semi skimmed or skimmed milk, they will need to ask for it specifically, as they have to if they want plant-based alternatives, such as oat or soya milk.

The change follows a successful months-long trial of whole milk which M&S said results in “smoother, creamier coffee”. The most popular coffees that are served in the cafés are lattes and cappuccinos, both of which contain large quantities of milk and cost £2.70 for a large in most M&S locations.

While it is not clear exactly how the change will affect the number of calories in an M&S cafe coffee, a cappuccino with 200ml of full-fat milk will have 35 calories more than one made with 200ml of semi-skimmed milk.

According to the M&S website, a medium-sized cappuccino has 112 calories and a tea with milk has 24 calories.

It comes as health trends which focus on gut health rather than restricting fat intake mean that younger milk drinkers have begun to buck the plant-based alternatives trend.

Milk from grass-fed cows, as most cows are in the UK, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and other vitamins, which are often removed when the fat is skimmed off. While low-fat versions of milk have long been thought to be healthier, some nutritional scientists are challenging conventional wisdom.

Prof Tim Spector, a columnist and diet expert, told The Telegraph earlier this month: “As scientists dug deeper into the effects of fat on health, it became clear that full-fat dairy doesn’t have the negative effects on health we once thought.”

Younger milk drinkers are more likely to be making the change. A third of people surveyed by Waitrose said that they had switched from a lower-fat product to a full-fat dairy product in 2023, with under 35s most likely to have switched. Figures from Waitrose showed that sales of whole milk have risen by 2 per cent over the past three months, resulting in the consumption of millions of extra litres.

The yoghurt producer Yeo Valley said that the sales of its low or fat-free products have declined year-on-year, as awareness of the risks of ultra-processed foods grow.

It comes after M&S launched its so-called “Magic Coffee” in cafés last January, after importing the trend from Australian coffee shops.

The drink is made with two “ristretto” shots of coffee, which offer a more concentrated flavour than a traditional espresso shot, creating an end result which is similar to a flat white.

M&S has looked to encourage a younger audience into its cafes with recent menu updates including the introduction of protein pancakes and bubble tea. Last year, M&S announced that it would start selling “whole” and “semi” oat milk in the same size bottles as cows’ milk. The oat milks are fortified with calcium and iodine.