Unilever Launches Culture Republick, Probiotic Light Ice Cream (Review)

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been haunting Target looking for the new Yasso Pumpkin Cheesecake flavor and walking away unsuccessful in my quest to find it for months. Today, I noticed a new offering right next to Yasso at Target. Culture Republick is a probiotic light ice cream. Since it’s probiotic, I thought of frozen yogurt. However, Culture Republick ice cream doesn’t contain Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, so it’s not really frozen yogurt.

Target had one CR flavor during my visit, Milk & Honey. I also saw signs for two other flavors, Chocolate & Cherry and Lemon & Graham. One pint was $4.39. Milk & Honey is vanilla ice cream with swirls of honey. One pint is 440 calories, 17g protein, 4.5g total fat, 17g sugars, and 6g protein. From the flavors and the ice cream positioning, I wasn’t expecting any tang. The flavors are a little more interesting than usual, especially the Turmeric Chai & Cinnamon. Lemon & Graham also sounds worth trying.

Milk & Honey: The texture is nice – very creamy and scoopable though a bit chewy and not as rich as full fat ice cream. The honey vanilla flavor is very pleasant and mild though the honey flavor is very strong and very sweet. There aren’t that many honey swirls though, so the honey isn’t too overwhelming. It has a sweet cream aftertaste and no yogurt flavor. I’d prefer a stronger vanilla flavor. The packaging features the work of an artist, Joe Geis, @joe_geis.

According to Unilever, “Culture Republick™ is a premium ice cream with probiotics on a mission to support culture both inside and out, with a unique connection to the arts. There are currently seven unique flavors of Culture Republick premium light ice cream, which include Milk & Honey, Turmeric Chai & Cinnamon, Cold Brew & Chocolate Chip, Pistachio & Caramel, Lemon & Graham, Chocolate & Cherry, and Matcha & Fudge. In addition to the probiotics in the ice cream, each pint is designed by a different emerging artist. The brand also pledges to use 10 percent of all profits to support arts in local communities across the country, with all charitable donations made possible by the Unilever Foundation. Culture Republick is currently available at select retailers for an average retail price of $3.99 to $4.99. To find the nearest retailer and learn more about Culture Republick, visit CultureRepublick.com.”

Unilever has launched a new probiotic ice cream brand called Culture Republick, which the company claims is the first premium ice cream containing probiotics.

Each pint contains 3 billion live active cultures and is made with no artificial sweeteners. I like how a portion of the profits goes to support the arts in local communities.

Ingredients (Milk & Honey): Skim milk, cream, sugar, soluble corn fiber, honey, milk protein concentrate, less than 2% of: cornstarch, vegetable gums (guar, carob bean), monoglycerides, natural flavor, salt, lemon juice concentrate, pectin, bacillus coagulans GBI-30 6086, xanthan gum, vitamin A palmitate.

4 out of 5 stars.

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.

Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams Review

Fro-yo girl here. Way back in 2012, I reviewed Foxy’s Pash Premium Frozen Yogurt: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2012/09/foxys-pash-frozen-yogurt-review.html

Foxy’s Pash was positioned as a low calorie, low sugar, lowfat guilt free, all-natural, premium frozen yogurt. In reality, their product did not have a premium taste, but at least it did taste natural. I found several flavors to be bland and icy. My pints of Foxy’s sat in my freezer for awhile and I finally wound up throwing them out. I wasn’t eager to try anything by Foxy’s again.

At some point around 2014-2015, the founders of Foxy’s decided to rebrand and relaunch a new product, Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams, in 2016. The new look was cleaner and more modern. The old look reminded me of 1950’s American teenagers). The new flavors and packaging emphasized the quality of ingredients they use. The new positioning was as a healthy, indulgent (not lowfat), ice cream with less sugar, probiotics, and prebiotics. Compared to a typical frozen yogurt, Foxy’s has higher fat and less sugar. Compared to ice cream, Foxy’s has no eggs, less sugar, prebiotics, and probiotics. In fact, it has at least 1 billion probiotics per serving.

I decided to try Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams since I found them at Grocery Outlet at a deep discount, $2.49 a pint. According to the sign, they retail for $6.49 elsewhere. Grocery Outlet had three flavors: Rather Thoughtful Vanilla, Oregon Cherry Vanilla, and Uncle Mike’s Double Chocolate.

• Oregon Cherry Vanilla: When I took the lid off, I didn’t see any cherries. I did encounter cherry pieces later, but this flavor needs a cherry jam or more cherry flavor. It tastes like vanilla with a tiny hit of cherries. I didn’t miss the sugar because they also added agave inulin. It tasted as sweet as other ice creams. The texture seemed firmer and a bit icier, probably because it's egg-free. The flavor was mild and pleasant though the vanilla flavor wasn’t strong either. Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams tastes better than Foxy’s Pash, though I’d still like more flavor.

One serving is ½ a cup, with 250 calories, 18g total fat, 10g sugars, and 3g protein.

Ingredients: Milk, cream, sugar (cane), nonfat milk powder, cherry halves (cherries, sugar), cherry pieces (cherries, sugar [cane]), cherry juice concentrate, natural flavor), vanilla extract, organic agave inulin, Xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, Probiotics: L. Acidophilus, L. Plantarum, L. Salivarius, L. Rhamnosus, B. Lactis, and B. Biffidum.

The available flavors are:

• Salted Caramel & English Toffee 
• Uncle Mike’s Double Chocolate 
• California Pistachio 
• Oregon Cherry Vanilla 
• Rocky Road Less Travelled 
• Rather Thoughtful Vanilla 

Foxy’s is mainly available on West Coast but can be purchased online for $8.99/each.

For stores, see: https://thoughtfulicecream.com/where-to-buy/

3.5 out of 5 stars.

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.