I've done previous posts about non-dairy "milks" (see my posts on June 16, 2018 and April 25, 2020), and non-dairy "cheeses" (check the November 28, 2020 one), so I thought I'd tackle non-dairy yogurts. I guess after today's post, the only item in the genre left would be non-dairy "ice creams," if such a thing exists. And all of these despite the fact that I'm still not lactose intolerant, nor did I abruptly become vegan. Anyway, I tried the strawberry flavor almond milk yogurt from Silk, the mixed berry flavor oat yogurt from Silk's Oat Yeah, and the salted caramel cluster coconut milk yogurt from So Delicious.
I thought I was being diverse with the companies I chose, only to find out that was a crock, since ultimately all of these are now owned by one giant business. With that informational tidbit, Silk was started as a brand of WhiteWave Foods, which was founded by Steve Demos, in Boulder, Colorado back in 1977. WhiteWave started using soy and tofu as the non-diary bases, but over the decades it branched out to include almonds, oats, coconut, and cashews as the main sources. In addition to non-dairy yogurts, Silk also makes non-dairy milks and creamers. They are proudly vegan-appropriate, and free of all lactose and casein, and the calcium comes from limestone, not animal sources. Some of their wares do contain nuts, obviously, and the oat ones, among others, clearly contain gluten. WhiteWave was owned by Deans Foods between 2002-13, but in 2017 they were bought out by Danone. More on that firm in a bit.
So Delicious was begun in Eugene, Oregon in 1987 by Mark Brawerman. Like Silk, all of their products are dairy-free. They also use coconut, soy, cashews, and almonds to replicate milk. As such, once again, some of their products contain gluten, and nuts. Also, somewhat surprisingly, some ingredients have GMOs. Alternate So Delicious products include beverages, frozen desserts, melting shredded "cheeses," and creamers. In 2014 So Delicious was acquired by WhiteWave. And, as you know, three years later WhiteWave was then acquired by Danone.
Danone is by far the oldest of these companies, starting way back in 1919, in Barcelona, Spain. Founder Isaac Carasso was a doctor by training, and he wanted to improve the health of Spain's children especially, since they often had intestinal disorders. (And let's be real, he also wanted to make money, as he was running a business.) So he started making and marketing yogurt to pharmacies. He named his company Danone, which means "Little David," after his son. Danone moved its headquarters around several times--going to Paris, France for a while, then New York, in the U.S., and then back to Paris. They changed their brand name to "Dannon" in the U.S., thinking this new title sounded more American. Danone also owned cheese manufacturing brands, and even Kronenbourg beer for a time, but not anymore. But the company also bought out many other yogurt brands/companies, aside from the two I already mentioned. Danone is HUGE--it currently employs over 100,000 people, operates plants in over 55 countries, and exports to over 120 countries. So, when it comes to buying yogurt, it's rather challenging to find brands that aren't owned by them. And even if they're not now, chances are they'll be bought up eventually.
1) Silk's Oat Yeah oat milk yogurt, mixed berry flavor: Purple color, no discernable odor. Weird. Light and airy, with some berry overtones. Tart, but not in a good way. Off putting somehow. Doesn't resemble actual (dairy) yogurt. I like oats in general, and in milk form they're good, but this wasn't pleasant.
2) So Delicious, coconut milk yogurt, salted caramel cluster: This one came in two compartments--the yogurt side, and the pretzel/chocolate piece side. No particular smell. The yogurt was white in hue. It had almost no flavor at all, and it had the odd light and airy texture that the Oat Yeah one had. (It might have been plain yogurt.) When I mixed in the pretzel and chocolate chunks, the result was pretty good, as they gave the concoction some much needed taste, and texture. So plain the yogurt was like light beer, impossibly bland and flavorless, but with the snack and candy put in it, it was alright. Although I found it kind of a strange pairing, since yogurt is usually considered healthy, and adding in a sugary candy and salty snack seems to offset this idea.
3) Silk almond milk yogurt, strawberry flavor: Brownish-pink color, and again, no real odor. The chunks of strawberry were evident, and gave it a lumpy texture. This one impressed me, as it tasted a lot like regular yogurt. The strawberries were nice, too. I don't know if I could tell the difference in a blind taste test. Maybe it's a tad more sour, but just a smidgen. Easily my favorite of the bunch.
I know I only gave each yogurt alternative one container each, but on the other hand, I intentionally chose flavors I usually enjoy. Based on this admittedly miniscule sample size, I don't think oats make a decent yogurt alternative, and coconut milk yogurt needs a lot of help in the way of mixed-in ingredients. But almond milk yogurt was quite good. In the unlikely event I develop a dairy allergy, or decide to go vegan, I think I'll go with the almond milk for my yogurt approximation. And as always, if/when I try other flavors of any or all of these, I'll add my additional ratings.
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