How to Add No-Added-Sugar Drinks to Your Café Menu

More customers in the Gulf now ask for drinks with less sugar, and many cafés still answer with a syrup-heavy menu. The good news: a short, honest no-added-sugar menu is easy to build and easy for your team to make. This guide walks you through the six steps we use with cafés, with a sample starter menu at the end.

Step 1: Choose 3–4 drinks your customers already know

Do not start with something exotic. Pick drinks people already order and simply offer them without sugar:

• Matcha latte, hot and iced, which is the trend drink right now.
• Karak, the Gulf favourite, made in seconds with a ready mix.
• Cappuccino, for customers who want a coffee boost.
• A caffeine-free option, such as a date latte or rooibos tea, for evenings and families.

Step 2: Use an unsweetened base and put the sweetener on the side

The simplest way to offer “no added sugar” is to start from a base with no sugar in it. Our HoReCa 1 kg mixes for matcha latte, karak, cappuccino and date latte have no added sugar and no sweetener. Each customer can then sweeten their own cup, for example with a stevia Reb-M sachet. This also lets you serve customers who like their drink sweet and those who do not, from the same base.

Step 3: Fix one recipe per drink

Write each recipe in grams and millilitres and keep a scoop or scale at the station, so every cup tastes the same whoever is on shift.

Drink	Base per cup	Liquid
Hot matcha latte	14 g matcha latte mix	30 ml hot water + 150 ml steamed milk
Iced matcha latte	14 g matcha latte mix	30 ml hot water + ice + 150 ml cold milk
Karak	12 g karak mix	150 ml hot water or milk
Cappuccino	14 g cappuccino mix	150 ml hot water or milk
Date latte	14 g date latte mix	150 ml hot milk

All recipes, including traditional matcha and espresso drinks, are in our free Café Menu Kit.

Step 4: Work out your cost per cup

Cost per cup = (pack price ÷ cups per pack) + milk + cup and lid + sweetener. A 1 kg mix makes about 70 cups at 14 g, or about 80 cups of karak at 12 g. Enter your own prices in our Café Cup Cost Calculator to see your margin and break-even before you set the menu price.

Step 5: Write the menu honestly

• Use “no added sugar” only when you add no sugar or syrup to the drink.
• Say how it is sweetened if you offer sweetness, for example “sweetened with stevia on request”.
• Mark caffeine-free drinks clearly; parents and evening customers look for them.
• Keep descriptions short. Ready-made lines in English and Arabic are in the kit.

Step 6: Train the team and store the stock well

• Show every barista the recipe card and the scoop size.
• Keep stevia sachets on the counter so customers can help themselves.
• Close bulk packs tightly and store them in a cool, dry place. For pure matcha, see how to store matcha.
• Choose your milk with care: the best milk for matcha latte compares whole, oat and almond milk.

A sample starter menu

Drink	Caffeine	Hot / iced
Matcha Latte	Yes	Both
Cardamom Matcha Latte	Yes	Both
Karak	Yes	Both
Cappuccino	Yes	Both
Date Latte	No	Hot
Rooibos Tea	No	Hot

Frequently asked questions