Freeze Dried Yogurt Cubes Trend

 

Fro-yo girl here. Shelf-stable yogurt products have become increasingly popular throughout Asia. I’ve noticed bottled ambient yogurt drinks and freeze-dried yogurt cubes at my local Asian grocery stores. Ambient yogurt drinks were launched in China in 2010 and they’ve taken off, accounting for 50% of yogurt sales in 2019. The cold chain distribution in China is not well-developed; ambient yogurt makes yogurt available for markets that don’t have access to refrigerated yogurt. And ambient yogurt products have a much longer shelf life. Also, fewer people are eating breakfast at home, so ambient yogurt offers a convenient, on-the-go source of nutrition.

As more manufacturers started offering ambient yogurt, they developed more varieties. In 2017, ambient yogurt with cereal and fruit was introduced. Ambient yogurt is now available in the Asia (e.g., Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand), Middle East, Africa, and South America. 

Shelf-stable yogurt drinks do not contain live cultures but are still seen as healthy and protein-rich. Freeze-dried yogurt cubes are made by drying yogurt at a low temperature; the process does not kill yogurt cultures. The yogurt is mixed with freeze dried fruit. Freeze-dried yogurt can be reconstituted with water or by adding the yogurt to a beverage. The snacks are also eaten straight out of the bag and on top of cereal or oatmeal.

While Gerber makes yogurt melts (freeze dried yogurt) in the US, their melts are tiny drops for babies and infants.

Here are some manufacturers of freeze-dried yogurt cubes

• Alor (Malaysia
• Alvin’s (Korea)
• Fresh Bulk (Malaysia)
• Frutara (Malaysia)
• Fu Kitchen (Malaysia)
• Little Spoon (Korea)
• MN (China)
• Naejae (Korea)
• One Little C (Malaysia)
• Papa-I (Korea)
• Pure Eat (Malaysia)
• Sanmaeul (Korea)
• Ssalgwaja (Korea)
• TG Lite (Malaysia)
• Wang Bao Bao (China)

I found Alor at Good Fortune Market in Alhambra. One 30g bag was $4.99. They had a few flavors, including durian, chocochips, mango, and strawberry. The cubes are a product of Malaysia and the first ingredient is yogurt. They contain live cultures. One serving (the whole bag) is 120 calories, 3g total fat, 16g total sugars, and 4g protein.

Alor Strawberry: The cubes are small – about ¾ of an inch tall and long and ½ an inch wide. Some pieces are bigger and some have more strawberry pieces.

I tried adding water and stirring to reconstitute. It took quite some time and a lot of stirring before the cubes dissolved into a thin yogurt. It tasted okay…slightly tangy, kinda bland.

I also added a few cubes to soy milk. It took a long time for the cubes to dissolve. They didn’t add much flavor to the soy milk.

My favorite way to eat them was straight out of the bag. They’re crunchy and melt in your mouth. The strawberries are quite tangy. The yogurt wasn’t as flavorful. They’re a bit chalky.

Verdict: The cubes are a fun, portable snack but you get very few in the pouch and fresh yogurt tastes better.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Tarte Asian Yogurt Review

Fro-yo girl here. I spotted a new yogurt during a recent trip to Whole Foods. Tarte Asian Yogurt is inspired by one of the founder’s mom’s Southeast Asian style yogurt (I gather that it’s inspired by the Vietnamese yogurt, da lu). Tarte is a modern version of Asian style yogurt, made with milk from a California dairy farm and exotic fruits. Six flavors are available in individual 6 oz. cups: Original, Blueberry Acai, Green Tea & Honey, Mango & Coconut, Pomegranate & Goji, and Strawberry & Guanabana.

According to Tarte, “what makes Tarte so unique is the slow and gentle cooking process that caramelizes the natural sugars found in milk which results in an extremely creamy and delicious flavor.”

Tarte is sweetened with Stevia, has high protein content (14 grams) and 115 calories per serving. According to the Tarte website, their yogurt has 2x the protein of regular yogurt and 2x the calcium of Greek yogurt, with billions of probiotic cultures.

* Original: It’s about the same smoothness, thickness and creaminess as a Greek yogurt. The original flavor is sweetened with sugar and Stevia. The flavor does taste different but in a slightly artificial way, even though the ingredients are 100% natural. It might be because of the Stevia. It’s more sour than the Tarte description would lead me to believe. It’s tangy with a sour aftertaste. The da lu I get from the Vietnamese market might not be as healthy but it tastes better.

* Green tea & honey: I like this one better than the original. The honey flavor is fairly strong and helps mask the weird aftertaste of the Stevia. I can taste green tea but it’s faint.The yogurt is tangy and sweeter than the original flavor.

I found Tarte Asian Yogurt at Whole Foods in Noe Valley for $1.79 a cup or 2/$3 on sale. To check for availability in your area, visit their Store locator feature on the Tarte website. It’s currently available at Gelson’s and Whole Foods.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* WHOLE FOODS MARKET: 3950 24th St., San Francisco, CA 94114

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.