Craving for frozen yogurt

Even if it has been raining for the past couple of weeks, the weather has been constantly hot. So I have always found myself craving for frozen yogurt. I do not know if this is just me following the fad, but just the thought of this yummy treat makes me want to hunt right away the nearest frozen yogurt store.

This is reaction towards frozen yogurt is actually kind of unusual for me. I like cold desserts like ice cream but I never craved for ice cream as much as I crave now for frozen yogurt. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I am watching my weight. And with ice cream, even if I wanted to eat more, the pleasure is not 100% because there is always the guilt:

Before eating ice cream : Okay, I am just gonna have 1 small cup.
During: This is really good. And it’s 1,000 calories! I will probably just skip dinner.
After: I need to jog!

What is even more unusual is that a few years back, I wasnt really a fan of yogurt. My concept of yogurt was Nestle’s Yogurt and Dutch Mill’s Yogurt Drink, which I do not find quite appetizing. Maybe because the non-frozen yogurt, in its semi-liquid or liquid form the sour taste overpowers the creaminess and the sweetness—tastes which I and probably most people are more fond of. Moreover, I find Nestle Yogurt expensive. Even if it is only P30 to P40 a cup, much cheaper than frozen yogurt, I do not feel like its worth buying because it does not satisfy me in taste and in quantity.

It was only recently this year that I learned about this new thing called frozen yogurt. One night after dinner, my friends and I wanted some dessert. One suggested to go to Red Mango. It was funny because I had always passed by this store but I never really noticed it nor was attracted to buy Frozen Yogurt. Perhaps because the store looked expensive. And it was indeed expensive. That night I ordered one small cup of plain yogurt for P80. But of course I wanted some toppings, so I added P40 for some fruit and nuts. Oh, but it was really yummy! The best part was the balance of the half-sour yogurt , the sweetness of the fruit and flavor of nuts and all the texture combined in your mouth. The next best thing was that it is healthy, and guilt-free. That was really a treat.

From then on, I started noticing frozen yogurt stores in malls and advertisements/ promotions on TV, print and out-of-home. I saw a portion segment in a morning show featuring a franchise of Frozen Yogurt. The Pancake House billboard ad featuring Gurts is very prominent along EDSA. I also saw a ¾ page lifestyle article on frozen yogurt on newspaper. Then I realized this is a fad. More and more people seem to be talking about frozen yogurt and are getting crazy over it. I guess it is all these ads and word-of-mouth combined that reinforce my liking for this product. Now frozen yogurt for me is the new yogurt. Not very long Nestle Yogurt will be forgotten unless they come up with something really better. It is the fun of choosing your own toppings from a wide selection of fruits, nuts, chocolate, granola, cereals, candies, etc. Just the other day I saw a new Frozen Yogurt Place in greenbelt, Qoola, that allows you to make your own cup of frozen yogurt. You experience actually pressing the machine to get your yogurt and then pour on all the toppings you want. No limit for the yogurt or toppings. All you need to pay for is the overall weight. How cool is that?