Making the next generation of frozen yogurt

The frozen yogurt category is getting its second wind. Today’s product is more acidic, and some consumers prefer a sour or tart taste. But the bigger market is for creamy, indulgent frozen yogurt. Here are tips and ideas for working with flavors.

Lifeway products — At Natural Products Expo West in March, Lifeway introduced a 99% lactose-free and gluten-free frozen yogurt. Greek Style Fro-Yo is available in three flavors: Blood Orange Swirl, Chocolate Swirl and Honey Swirl. A serving has 110 calories, 1 gram of fat and 6 grams of protein.

Red mango frozen yogurt — The Red Mango frozen yogurt chain has a new Classics line in all-natural flavors that are sweet and creamy. Classics flavors include Cake Batter, Milk Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Sugarcane Cola.

Virginia Dare frozen yogurt — Frozen yogurt combines multiple health hooks into a single appealing package, says Anton Angelich of a Brooklyn-based flavor company. "It parallels the popularity of probiotics and prebiotics."

Refrigerated Greek yogurts served up the flavor inspirations for the Ruggles Lowfat Greek Frozen Yogurt line from Dairy Enterprises Inc. Flavors include vanilla bean, peach, honey and blueberry. The yogurt is sold in pints and single-serving 4-ounce containers.

“Today’s tweens are into more sour and tart flavors,” said Marie Cummings, manager of food applications and product development at a flavor house in Philadelphia. “And that could be a reason for the popularity rise and acceptance of frozen yogurt among this crowd.”

The greater perceptible acid in today’s frozen yogurt traces directly back to the probiotic load in the product mixes.

“Currently, more cultures are added to the frozen yogurt for more efficacy,” Cummings said, and the health benefits and tangy taste that result may be mutually reinforcing.

“Media has provided consumers with a lot of information on probiotic health benefits. Consumers can assume that the sourer the taste profile, the more probiotics the product might contain,” Gumabon said.

The more things change

But if consumers were hoping that increased tartness signaled fewer added sugars, they might be disappointed.

“Frozen yogurt manufacturers are adding more cultures to their products, resulting in more tartness,” Gumabon said, but that increased acidity “just gives a perception of being less sweet. The sweetener levels might still be the same.”

Scott Van Horn, president and partner of Sugar Creek Foods, a privately held frozen yogurt manufacturer in Russellville, Ark., said tart frozen yogurt isn’t the only game in town.

“The tart-based yogurts, which were fairly prominent four years ago, probably make up less than 15% of the market share anymore,” he pointed out. “If you look at the chains that are really booming — the ones that are covering the whole spectrum and serving maybe 10% or 15% tart and then 80% or 85% indulgent — those are the chains that are really growing in today’s marketplace.”

Sugar Creek Foods is the processor of the national brand Honey Hill Farms soft-serve frozen yogurt. The fact is, even in frozen yogurt, sweetness succeeds. Van Horn’s partner, vice president of sales Bob Gunter, noted that while some consumers go for the tart taste of traditional refrigerated yogurt, others “want ice-cream taste, indulgent flavors and the healthy-halo effect and wellness attributes. But they only see those as a bonus. The main driver of why they’re coming in there is they want a good treat.”

Shining the healthy halo

The competition between added sweetness and inherent tartness is just one consideration in the search for a flavor profile that complements the yogurt itself. Cummings said that “often fermentation and cultures are explored to find the best pairings.”

Fruits and especially citrus notes go well with the tart nature of the frozen yogurt, she said. But brown-type flavors will work, too, if you play them right. As a general rule, Cummings said, “milder cultured products go better with basic flavors like vanilla and caramel. Tarter profiles go best with fruits and citrus. It’s about balancing.”

Angelich points to the emergence of tropical profiles in frozen yogurt: mangos, passion fruit and tropical blends. Inasmuch as these fit the superfruit category, their healthy reputation could further lift a good-for-you treat. The same goes for floral and botanical profiles like rose or hibiscus, he adds, and anything with honey (see Greek yogurt).

But we needn’t stalk the rainforest for viable superfruits to bring to fro-yo. Tart cherry, blackcurrant, raspberry and blueberry are all domestic superfruits whose profiles suit the medium.

“And if consumers can get antioxidant activity or a healthy halo from a fruit profile that they’re comfortable with, that fits with locavore and sustainable trends and leaves a smaller carbon footprint,” Angelich said, “they’ll go for that.”