Divino: Handcrafted Gelato Filled Fruit Made in Italy Review

Fro-yo girl here. While looking for supermarket froyo, I noticed a new brand called Divino. These single serve hand-crafted frozen treats are made with Italian fruit from the Amalfi Coast and they’re served in their own fruit shells. The edible packaging reminded me of Stonyfield’s frozen yogurt pearls.

I spotted Divino at Lassen’s and Bristol Farms. They were on sale at Bristol Farms, two for $5 (regularly $3.99 each).

Flavors: Amalfi Lemon, Roman Kiwi, Ciaculli Tangerine, Apulian Peach and Black Diamond Plum

Each serving is approximately 100 calories, non-GMO verified and contains fresh fruit pulp, cane sugar, water and lemon juice. On the box it’s called gelato but there was no dairy in the tangerine so it was sorbet. Apparently in Italy, ice cream and sorbet are both called gelato because gelato means frozen. I found that confusing.

The box suggests thawing your Divino treat for 20 minutes. I did that and after 20 minutes it was still frozen solid. I was able to pry off the rind and then waited for the sorbet to soften. It stayed solid for a long time. I chipped off small pieces with the enclosed gelato spoon and the spoon broke.

* Ciaculli tangerine: I don’t think I’ve had a Ciaculli tangerine before so I was excited to try it. It was fragrant and tasted like a mild, sweeter tangerine. I was surprised by how much sweeter it was but then I looked at the nutritional information, 21.7g of sugar per serving – that’s a lot of sugar. I’m not sure why they had to add that much sugar (the amount you’d find in ice cream). The peel was thin and soft. I tried it – it had the bitterness you’d expect from a tangerine peel. The sorbet was too sweet for me; I would have appreciated some tang. Also, it was difficult to eat. I’d rather eat a tangerine.

* Black diamond plum: I liked this sorbet better than the tangerine one, even though it had even more sugar, 22.1g of sugar per serving. The plum had a deeper, richer flavor and the shell/skin was edible. It was more icy than creamy.

One serving was 120 calories with no fat. Ingredients (tangerine): tangerine pulp, cane sugar, invert cane sugar, water, lemon juice.

You can find Divino stockists on their website: http://lovedivino.com/find/ or purchase it online from Williams Sonoma, http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/gelato-filled-fruit-set/

3 out of 5 stars

* BRISTOL FARMS: 606 S Fair Oaks Ave., South Pasadena, CA 91030

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.