Drinking yogurt taps into three very important consumer trends: health, convenience and indulgence. Most yogurt drinks are sold in portable serving packs, which makes them easy to consume on-the-go — as a healthy snack or as part of a meal. Drinkable yogurt is divided into two subcategories, and the selection of culture depends on the category:
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Drinking yogurt
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Diluted yogurt beverages
For drinking yogurt, the main consumer requirements are mouth thickness, robustness to pumping and shearing, smoothness, and syneresis along with yogurt flavor, acidity and post-acidification.
For diluted yogurt drinks, the requirements for the culture are mainly fermentation speed, acidity and yogurt flavor. Typically, these drinks have had stabilizers added and are homogenized. This breaks down most of the yogurt texture and minimizes differences in mouth thickness and viscosity between cultures. If the drinks are heat-treated, there is no requirement for low post-acidification.
For an overview of recommended YOFLEX® cultures for drinking yogurt, please contact our marketing representative.