Greek yogurt hits the frozen foods aisle for summer treats

Ben & Jerry's has launched a line of Greek Frozen Yogurt. Ben & Jerry's pic

NEW YORK, May 31 The soaring popularity of Greek yogurt has expanded beyond the dairy aisle and into the frozen food section.

With the arrival of rising temperatures and ice cream season, dairy and frozen dessert makers have been tapping into the meteoric popularity of the denser, thicker version of regular yogurt by turning it into a frozen treat.

According to UBS research, Greek yogurt made up less than 1 per cent of the market in 2008. Today, it makes up 20 per cent of the total overall yogurt market. By 2015, Euromonitor predicts it will become a US$15 billion (RM47.7 billion) industry.

This year, ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's launched a new line of Greek Frozen Yogurt it says was inspired by a "jaunt down the grocery aisle."

The new range is also lower in calories. While the Strawberry Shortcake Greek Frozen Yogurt flavor, for instance, clocks in at 5 g of fat and 180 calories per cup serving, perhaps its nearest equivalent in its other lines, Strawberry Cheesecake, comes in at 15 g of fat and 250 calories per serving.

Other grocery store frozen Greek yogurt brands include Stonyfield Organic's nonfat Oikos, which comes in flavors like honey, vanilla, blueberry and chocolate. Yasso also makes frozen Greek yogurt bars and smoothies in the US.

Greek yogurt is made by straining yogurt in a filter like muslin or cheese cloth to remove the whey, which gives it a creamier, richer, thicker consistency. Though long used in Greece and the Middle East, it's only in recent years that the dairy product has gained a loyal following in other countries, particularly in North America.

The biggest consumer demographic for Greek yogurt? Upper-class, well-educated women. AFP-Relaxnews

Share it with others

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•