The new "tart" yogurt craze

For those who have somehow missed all the hype created in Southern CA, the latest gold rush has begun and the new precious commodity is yogurt....plain yogurt. There are no fewer than 40 new yogurt shops with most now offering this tart flavor choice along with a new variety of toppings including fresh fruit, nuts and even a glutenous rice cake called mochi.

If you have been following this new craze, you're already familiar with names like Pink Berry and Red Mango who are on a major land grab in a race to win new fans of this yogurt. Although Pink Berry is involved in a dispute over whether or not it can call its product "yogurt", many are offering the bacteria-rich product that has found new popularity due to its "probiotic" properties. The latest in nutritional data suggests that probiotic cultures aid in curing so many of our current ills including digestive disorders, metabolic syndrome and general well-being.

Ok, so maybe you don't suffer from any of these problems. How about being fat free, lower in sugars (?) and generally more "healthy" than other, less tasty or refreshing snacks? Many report this new tart flavor to be a little tough to love at first, but then invoking a kind of addictive reaction that results in many having to satisfy their fix daily - thus the term "crack berry" as a reference to this addictive behavior. So addictive in fact, that sales numbers are reported to be in the 1500+ servings per day (@ $3-5 per serving!).

The alleged progenetor of this craze is Red Mango from none other than Seoul. Pink Berry got an early jumpstart and most of the credit for this movement, but Red Mango has come to town and is moving at lightspeed to overtake all competitors. Pink Berry's unlikely start from a failing english tea room to yogurt rock star was a lot of great timing and some plain luck. Frozen yogurt has been in a decline for the past 15 years and was due for a comeback. Many asians have been aware of the healthy benefits of yogurt and probiotic cultures so voila, here we are amidst the next great yogurt boom. I've even enjoyed a version of this treat atop a mound of shaved ice, topped with a delicious variety of sweet beans, mochi, fruit, soy bean
flour and fruit syrup, generically named "patbitsu" by my local Korean sweet shop.

Where can you find this new tart yogurt in the Bay Area? Try Harmony Yogurt in San Carlos, Fraische in Palo Alto, Mochii in Sacramento, Trendy Bean Cafe in Santa Clara along with some others in San Jose and Fremont coming soon. I'm sure there are many more too, so stay tuned.