Oui by Yoplait French Style Yogurt Review

Fro-yo girl here. General Mills recently introduced a new yogurt line, called Oui by Yoplait. Oui by Yoplait represents a new category of yogurt in the US. It’s inspired by traditional pot-set French style yogurt which involves pouring the ingredients into small pots and letting the contents of each glass pot to set and culture for eight hours. The standard process for US yogurt making involves culturing ingredients in large batches and then filling individual cups.

Oui by Yoplait is part of the trend towards simple food made with just a few ingredients. The Plain variety is made with milk and yogurt cultures; that's all. It’s non-GMO with no artificial preservatives, no artificial flavors and no artificial colors. It also is on trend by using whole milk. The line has eight flavors: Strawberry, Blueberry, Black Cherry, Vanilla, Coconut, Lemon, Peach and Plain. The fruit is on the bottom but the product isn’t meant to be stirred before eating. Warning: I stirred one of the yogurts I had and it lost the lovely, smooth texture.

I spotted Oui by Yoplait at Walmart, with a retail price of $1.34. The glass jars with the foil seals are adorable. They look like something you’d find at a farmers’ market in Europe with the flavor written in cursive by hand. The foil seals are illustrated with the flavor of the yogurt and there’s a cute saying on the bottom of the foil. So cute.

* Vanilla: It’s not like Greek yogurt but has a firm, smooth, thick, custardy texture. It’s smoother than most yogurt that I’ve tried. The flavor was subtle – the vanilla was not overpowering. It tasted like a milk custard with a hint of vanilla. It was lightly sweet but not tart, with a mild tang. I liked the subtle mildness.

One serving is 5 oz (smaller than average), 170 calories, 8g total fat, 16g total carbohydrates, 15g sugars and 5g protein.

Ingredients: Pasteurized grade A milk, cane sugar, yogurt cultures (L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus), vanilla extract.

* Black Cherry: The ombre pink color is so pretty. The cherry preserve on the bottom wasn’t too sweet and it has chunks of cherry. The yogurt was mild and smooth.

Ingredients: Pasteurized grade A milk, cane sugar, cherries, pectin, blueberry and carrot juice, yogurt cultures (L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus), natural flavor.

General Mills is hoping that French style yogurt will be the new Greek yogurt and revive its declining yogurt sales. It’s been years since I liked a Yoplait product and I was pleasantly surprised by Oui by Yoplait. I think the simplicity of the ingredients (no thickeners were used) and the pot set method made a difference that’s worth tasting and eating. I’m inspired to try all the Oui flavors.

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.

Pinkberry Introduces New Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. I’m encouraged to see more new flavors from Pinkberry lately. The newest is Black Raspberry frozen yogurt, which combines blackberries and raspberries, two tart fruits that I really like. Pinkberry recommends pairing Black Raspberry frozen yogurt with blackberries and raspberries.

* Black Raspberry frozen yogurt: I was very pleasantly surprised by how tart this flavor was. It might be the tartest Pinkberry flavor yet! I could taste the blackberries and the raspberries. The texture was light and on the icier side. If you see Meyer Lemon frozen yogurt, try pairing it with Black Raspberry. Lemon complements berries. Recommended toppings: Berries, almonds and chocolate crisps.

I didn’t see the cold brew fruit teas at my Pinkberry.

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

Here’s the official press release:

Pinkberry Announces Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt as New Limited Time Flavor

Cold Brew Fruit Teas Also Available as a Summertime Promotion

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinkberry® (www.Pinkberry.com) has hand-picked Black Raspberry to be its newest limited time flavor. The tart fruit flavor is available now through Sept. 7, 2017.

Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt is also featured as a combination called Exotic Raspberry, which comes topped with fresh blackberries and raspberries for a mouthwatering treat.

"Black Raspberry is a fantastic fruit flavor that's an ideal treat during the peak of summer," said Melissa Hubbell, director of marketing for Pinkberry. "We've swirled together the sweet flavors of blackberries and raspberries to create a smooth and refreshing fruit taste that customers are going to go wild over."

Promotional Flavor (Available July 28 – Sept. 7, 2017):

Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt

Promotional Combination (Available July 28 – Sept. 7, 2017):

Exotic Raspberry – Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt topped with fresh Blackberries and Raspberries

In addition to the new Black Raspberry flavor, Pinkberry is continuing to offer the delicious line of Cold Brew Fruit Teas for a limited time only. The teas come in two refreshing flavors, Strawberry Hibiscus and Tropical Mango, which can be shaken with fresh, hand cut fruit and flavored Bursting Boba™ to make it a one of a kind Pinkberry beverage.

Promotional Beverage (Available June 16 – Sept. 7, 2017):

Cold Brew Fruit Teas

Strawberry Hibiscus with Strawberry Bursting Boba™, Fresh Strawberries and Blueberries

Tropical Mango with Mango Bursting Boba™, Fresh Strawberries and Mango

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.

The IFYA Turns Four

The International Frozen Yogurt Association was launched on July 29, 2013. Today, it celebrates its fourth anniversary. I wanted to share the IFYA's anniversary message. It's an important one for froyo fans and those in the frozen yogurt industry.

The IFYA Anniversary Message

State of Froyo Today

According to a recent report by Technavio, the frozen yogurt industry had a value of $2.39 billion in 2016, with a projected value in 2021 of $3.96 billion. IBIS World estimates that the growth rate of the frozen yogurt industry from 2011-2016 was 11.6%. According to Technavio, the “frozen yogurt market in the US is expected to grow at a CAGR of almost 11% from 2017-2021.”

The US market for frozen yogurt has slowed and many shops have closed or been acquired. During the consolidation period, surviving frozen yogurt businesses need to build their brands, offer something different and stay open to innovation. The IFYA helps frozen yogurt store owners keep track of trends and best practices, as well as offer discounts for a wide range of goods and services, and access to industry experts.

New Project, The National Frozen Yogurt Survey

The IFYA is currently working on an ambitious new project, to better understand the state of frozen yogurt in the US today. To do this, we’ll need to hear from both frozen yogurt consumers and frozen yogurt shop operators.

For shops, we’d like to learn what their main concerns are, their costs, key operational practices, satisfaction with suppliers, etc. For consumers, we’d like to learn how brand loyal they are, how they would rate the largest froyo chains, what drives them to go to a froyo shop, what might increase their visit frequency, etc.

We’re looking for project partners. Partners could provide the prizes for frozen yogurt consumers or shop operators and/or help distribute the survey, in exchange for more of the survey results data and analysis. If you think you might be interested, please contact us at info@internationalfrozenyogurt.com

If all goes well, this could be an annual survey. The results will be useful for froyo shops and suppliers. The more responses we get, the better and more reliable our results will be.

Our Association is 1,800 Members Strong

Last July we had 1,400 members in 104 countries. Since then, we've grown to 1,800 members strong. This July, we have over 1,800 members in 108 countries. While most of our members are in the US, we clearly have an international presence. There are IFYA members in Albania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar, and of course many other countries.

IFYA members include frozen yogurt store operators and employees (42%), prospective frozen yogurt store operators (23%), frozen yogurt fans (14%), frozen yogurt industry suppliers (9%), and other (12%).

We’ve reached several big milestones in social media, including over 2,500 followers on Twitter, over 1,100 followers on Pinterest, over 1,600 followers on Instagram (almost 1,000 new followers in the last year) and nearly 700 Facebo0k fans.

Offering Greater Membership Value

Our members can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on essentials for their frozen yogurt shops. IFYA members continued to enjoy exclusive member discounts on frozen yogurt mix, frozen yogurt machines, toppings dispensers, cup dividers, payment processing, insurance and HR/payroll services.

FrozenSolutions.com and Aurel LLC offered limited time IFYA member discounts on cups, spoons and soft serve machines. Both Preferred Connect Insurance Center and FrozenDesssertSupplies.com increased the discount offered to our members.

New Website Features

We launched the new website design at the end of last year and reorganized the article library. These changes were undertaken to make it easier to find what you’re looking for on our website.

Corporate Sponsors

In addition to our advisory board and frozen yogurt industry experts, we're thrilled to enjoy the support of our corporate sponsors. A huge thank you to our sponsors for helping us as we strive to promote the quality and success of the frozen yogurt industry:

• FrozenDessertSupplies.com
• Dannon YoCream

Please support our corporate sponsors and our advertisers when you're looking for frozen yogurt supplies.

Contest

We continued our tradition of having an anniversary contest with the Far-Out Froyo Flavors contest. Frozen yogurt fans were invited to share their most creative, appealing froyo flavor ideas for a chance to win a sweet prize package.

The winning flavor, White Peach Oolong Tea froyo, was submitted by @xtracetracex on Instagram.


Warmest Regards,



Susan Linton

President, International Frozen Yogurt Association

Loving Cup to Open in the Marina (San Francisco, CA)

Fro-yo girl here. The old Pacific Puffs location on Union Street is the home of the fourth location of Loving Cup, the SF based rice pudding and hand churned froyo specialist. Each cup of froyo is hand churned to order with the customer’s choice of mix ins to create a truly custom flavor. The froyo comes out thick, rich and indulgent – though it’s still lowfat. They have non-dairy options too.

The doors open at noon on Saturday, July 29 and swirls are just $1 between 2 – 3 PM.

* LOVING CUP: 2201 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123

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.

Loop Neighborhood Coming to Union City, CA (Bringing More Froyo?)

Fro-yo girl here. I first wrote about Loop Neighborhood in May 2015. At the time, it had about a dozen locations in Northern California. The first location opened in June 2013. Loop seeks to be a new kind of convenience store, with a nicer café, water for your pets, healthier food, a soup bar, coffee and a frozen yogurt stand, featuring self-serve froyo and toppings.

Loop currently has 23 locations in Northern California and a new one is being built at the corner of Decoto Rd. and Alvarado-Niles Blvd. in Union City, CA. There was a Shell Gas station at that corner before but it’s been demolished.

I assume that the new location will have froyo.

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

* LOOP NEIGHBORHOOD: 32187 Alvarado Niles Rd., Union City, CA 94587

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.

Unlimited Cup Lessons, Part Two

Fro-yo girl here. For Yogurtland Real Reward members, the ultimate reward for eating froyo is the coveted “Unlimited Cup.” To earn the Unlimited Cup the standard way, you need to (1) be a Real Rewards member and (2) collect 520 points within a year of the day you first joined Real Rewards (or the anniversary of the day you first joined).

One (paid) ounce is equal to one point. The free froyo you earn along the way doesn’t earn you any points. If you buy gift cards, the points go to the person using the gift card at the time he/she is paying for the yogurt.

With the free froyo rewards every 36 points, you will consume more than 520 ounces to get to your Unlimited Cup. Assuming you are a Platinum Real Rewards member, you’ll have earned 14 four ounce rewards along the way, or 56 oz. and a free 16 oz birthday cup. This translates to a minimum of 592 ounces of froyo (unless you didn’t redeem your rewards) or 11.38 oz/week. That’s a lot of froyo if you’re only buying froyo for yourself. 

Once you earn the Unlimited Cup, you have a month to redeem it. You can redeem it at any Yogurtland store whenever you want. Whatever fits in the 16 ounce cup is yours, free.

You shouldn’t just go in unprepared though. Here are some tips.

Tips for Building Your Unlimited Cup

1. Check the available flavors to make sure that the location you plan to visit has a flavor (or flavors) that you like. Use the Real Rewards Flavor Finder app to determine the available froyo flavors or call the location.

2. Choose a day/time that isn’t busy (generally going when Yogurtland first opens should work), so people don’t get in your way. Bring a tray to make it easier to carry your froyo and catch toppings overflow. I can’t imagine eating that much froyo (60 oz or more) at once, so you should be prepared to take some home. If you don’t live close to a Yogurtland or it’s a hot day, bring a cooler filled with ice. Don’t carry a big purse because you’ll need both hands. Bring a friend or loved one, if you can. He/she can help with piling on the toppings.

3. Once you’re at the shop, check the available flavors and toppings and decide what you want before you start. Pick froyo flavors that will complement each other. Forget using a cup divider. Keep in mind that some toppings freeze better than others (e.g., fresh fruit, gummy bears, popping boba and mochi don’t freeze well). Candy bars, cookies, and nuts still taste good when frozen. Nuts are probably the best because they don’t get soggy but they aren’t heavy. Big cookies are a good choice if you want to have a heavier cup. The chocolate wafer rolls taste amazing frozen (better than at room temperature) because the chocolate center hardens. Frozen cookies all seem to taste great. The wafer rolls stayed crispy. The yogurt pretzels stay the same when frozen.

4. Be sure to start with the 16 oz cup (if you start with the larger cup, you may have to transfer what’s in it to the 16 oz cup) that the reward specifies.

5. You’re ready to start building your cup. Build a base of about 1 inch on the bottom – pack it solid with smaller toppings – cookies and nuts. Use a spoon to mash together and make a smooth, even surface. It will be difficult to add smaller toppings on top. If you don't care about small toppings, you can skip this step.

6. Add froyo. Try swirling to fill the cup (usually I start from the edges and then fill in the center). Once you’ve gotten close to the rim, stop and tap the bottom of the cup hard against the table. This will fill in any air pockets. Add more froyo till you reach the rim. Stop.

7. Add a ring of wafer roll cookies. Make sure the cookies are firmly placed in the froyo. Place them in right next to each other at a slight outward angle (not straight up and down). This will form a wider base for your froyo. I forgot my own advice and my cookies were straight up and down. I definitely think this made it difficult to make wider swirls.

8. Swirl around the outside edges…then start building your froyo towers. Don’t move the cup too much, a gentle back and forth motion will work. Do this till you reach the maximum height. Towards the end you can place the cup on the shelf below and move it a little that way. The multiple towers add stability to the overall structure and allow you to avoid the hole in the middle that can’t be avoided with a single swirl.

9. Add additional toppings if desired. Cookies will be faster and easier to add to your swirls. Try building cookie walls as your creation gets taller. Work quickly of course.

10. Redeem your reward.

11. Take plenty of pictures.

12. Grab a few cups to transfer your froyo to so that you can take it home if you didn’t bring your own container or your container isn’t large enough. Ask for lids.

The goal is to get to at least 50 ounces. In this video, a man builds a 6 lb cup (96 oz) of froyo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v5ejCr6OKw

A few people have built cups that over over 200 ounces. I’ve seen photographic evidence. My creation was 70.2 ounces after deducting the weight of the cup. The cup would have cost $33.70 without the reward. I was able to build a bigger cup than my first unlimited cup creation, which was over 60 ounces.

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.

Yoga-urt 2nd Anniversary Celebration, New Flavor, New Contest, Specials

Fro-yo girl here. Mr. Froyo and I are huge fans of Yoga-urt, which turns two this weekend. What a treasure this shop is! It continues to provide the highest quality vegan, probiotic, organic, kosher soft serve and the most interesting flavors. It’s the only froyo/soft serve shop Mr. Froyo will go to and the only business where he’s a regular. I recommend Yoga-urt to everyone that asks for froyo recommendations.

We went back for the Anniversary Weekend (July 22-23, 2017). We were eager to try the new flavor, Purple Power. Purple Power was inspired by the color purple. It is made with cherries, raspberries, blackberries, pomegranate, spinach, beets, coconut milk, cashews, basil and more. The flavor has no added sugar!

Mr. Froyo and I both really liked Purple Power. It was rich, thick and dense. The flavor was so complex and interesting. The berries and basil stood out to me though I could detect some spinach and coconut. The fresh basil adds such a wonderful fresh flavor. Berries make it tart but not very tart. It’s not as sweet as Ganesha’s Sweet Greens but it is a balance of sweet and tart. Ganesha’s is lighter and more refreshing.

During the anniversary weekend they offered a $1 discount from 2-5 PM on soft serve and smoothies. They also have an Yoga-urt Turns Two Instagram photo contest that combines yoga and froyo, the two things that inspired the business.

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

* YOGA-URT, 1407 ½ W Kenneth Rd., Glendale, CA 91201

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.