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
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.
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.
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