Opinion – Terra Vegana: Plant milk weighs even in Paul McCartney’s pocket

Even Paul McCartney can’t bear to pay a surcharge on coffee every time he asks for plant-based milk instead of cow’s milk. The pocket is really heavy: in Starbucks stores in the United States, the option for soy, oat, coconut or almond milk carries an extra 70 cents on the dollar (the equivalent of more than R$ 3).

The difference inhibits, as is to be expected, the demand for the plant-based option, especially among consumers who are not vegans, but who would happily drink a cup of coffee with oat milk, were it not for the forced outlay.

Paul took advantage of his recent visit to Seattle (United States), hometown of Starbucks, to deliver a letter to the company’s CEO, in which he wrote that “for the future of the planet and for the welfare of animals” he hopes that the chain will expand its policy applied to UK and Indian stores — where there is no surcharge for choosing plant-based milk — to US stores.

In São Paulo, overpaying for a coffee with any type of vegetable milk is almost legal — and you can’t blame the merchant. Although the homemade production of vegetable milks such as oat, peanut and rice milk can yield drinks at least four times cheaper than cow’s milk (100 grams of oat flakes cost about R$1.30 and yield 1 liter of milk, while 1 liter of cow’s milk costs no less than R$ 4.50), the market price for the ready-to-drink drink is considerably more expensive.

To exemplify: exactly R$ 21.90 for 1 liter of oat milk from the brand A Tal da Castanha (value taken from the company’s website), leader in the vegetable drinks market.

The fault for the discrepancy in values, despite the fact that inputs of plant origin are often cheaper than those of animal origin, is also not the fault of the brands, at least not in a country like Brazil, where the ICMS (tax on circulation of goods) is 12% for soy milk and 18% for other plant-based milks. Meanwhile, cow’s milk receives a tax benefit (presumed credit), and its taxation can be reduced to zero.

In the other taxes on consumption, the different weight for what should have the same measure also applies, increasing the cost of marketing vegetable drinks. While vegetable milks (with the exception of soy) are taxed by the IPI (tax on industrialized products) at a rate of 3%, those of animal origin are either untaxed or taxed at a zero rate.

In PIS/COFINS (contributions on billing), we also have a zero rate for milk of animal origin and the benefit does not apply to milk of plant origin (including soy). The standard rate of these contributions can be 3.65% or 9.25%, depending on the payment method.

I’m rooting for Paul to return to Brazil, and leave a letter on top of each deputy on the ruralist bench. Just imagine the time he finds out that replacing cow’s milk with plant-based milk in Starbucks stores across the country amounts to R$5.00.

The column had the legal advice of doctors Tathiane Piscitelli, professor of Tax Law at FGV, and Fernanda Possebon, secretary of the Special Commission on Tax Law at OAB/SP.

The letter that Paul McCartney delivered to the CEO of Starbucks is part of an action by the international NGO PETA (in Portuguese, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to demand an end to the plant milk surcharge.