A Quebec Superior Court has authorized a class-action lawsuit against three of Canada’s largest coffee chains over surcharges on plant-based milk alternatives, with Starbucks’ own cost disclosures playing a central role in the ruling.
The case, reported by CTV News, was brought forward by Montreal resident Liel Ohayon, who is vegan and a regular customer of Starbucks and Tim Hortons. Ohayon contested the additional $0.80 charged for substituting plant-based milk in beverages such as a matcha latte, which retailed at $6 with animal-based milk at Second Cup and Starbucks, rising to $6.80 with soy or oat milk.
Starbucks’ own numbers used against it
Superior Court Justice Catherine Martel found the pricing discrepancy relevant enough to advance the case. In her judgment, she cited Starbucks’ own admission that substituting animal-based milk with a plant-based alternative costs the company just $0.12, yet customers are billed $0.80 for the switch.
She wrote, “By its own admission, Starbucks therefore charges consumers more than six times the cost it incurs when it replaces cow’s milk with plant-based or lactose-free milk in its beverages. Indeed, it does not appear frivolous or manifestly unfounded to argue that it is disproportionate to charge the consumer more than six times what it costs the merchant to substitute cow’s milk with plant-based milk in their tea or coffee, and that this disproportion is sufficiently significant to cause serious harm to the consumer.”
The ruling does not determine whether the chains acted unlawfully; it allows the case to proceed.
Coverage period and defendants
The class action covers all Quebec consumers who paid a premium for plant-based milk at Starbucks between December 30, 2021, and November 7, 2024; at Second Cup between December 30, 2021, and February 27, 2025; and at Tim Hortons between December 30, 2021, and January 2, 2025.
Notably, all three chains dropped their surcharges before the class action was authorized. Starbucks removed the upcharge in November 2024; Tim Hortons followed in January 2025, and Second Cup in February 2025. The lawsuit, filed by Montreal law firm LPC Avocats, seeks retroactive accountability for charges collected during those periods.
The surcharge issue has drawn legal scrutiny beyond Canada. Similar class-action suits have been filed against Starbucks and Dunkin’ in the United States, largely on disability discrimination grounds relating to lactose intolerance. Chains including Dutch Bros, Peet’s Coffee, and Caribou Coffee have also removed plant-based milk premiums in recent years, a trend that has accelerated following sustained consumer campaigns.
Plaintiff lawyer Joey Zukran told CTV News that the financial stakes are significant in aggregate, even if individual charges appear modest. “Individually, it might not appear as an astronomical level, but when you take the total sales figures on an aggregate basis for all coffees or beverages sold across Quebec, for which a non-dairy substitute was added at a cost of 80 cents per item, well, that could be an amount in the millions of dollars, potentially,” he said.
