Saturday, March 26, 2011

Crazy for Chobani?

After being a part of a #weightwatchers tweet chat a couple weeks ago that talked extensively about Chobani Greek Yogurt, I decided to give it a whirl.

I want to preface this blog by saying, I went into this super excited about trying Chobani because of all the rave reviews I'd read on the chat.

The first thing I noticed was the price. Granted, I picked it up at my local grocery store, which is notoriously more expensive than if I had gone to a national chain like Target or Wal-mart. But $1.25 for one container of yogurt seemed a bit expensive. Particularly when I can get another brand of yogurt (albeit, non-greek) for nearly 1/3 the price for the same quantity.

As far as taste is concerned, the Lemon flavor tasted great! The only downside was that it was pretty chunky and I personally am not a fan of chunky anything. I don't know if the chunkiness was due to the lemon, or if that's how greek yogurt is (this is my first experience with greek yogurt, too).

Comparing nutrition facts to my other favorite lemon yogurt, Chobani has 10mg less sodium than the other, the same amount of carbs, and actually 3g MORE sugar. There is more than double the protein, which is good because that means it's a good snack to have when I'm having a morning or afternoon hunger attack. Chobani's Lemon flavor also lacks the vitamins that the other name brand has (Vitamin A, D, Phosphorous), and doesn't match or beat the amount of Calcium (15% Chobani vs. 20% other brand).

I have 2 more flavors in my fridge to try...and I haven't looked at the nutrition facts for them, but I'm assuming it's about the same comparison.

But, I'm curious--why all the buzz about Chobani? Because of the protein factor? Does that outweigh everything else I mentioned above? Or am I missing something? If I can get used to the texture, and if I could get some sound reasoning as to why it's better than the other yogurt, I might be swayed to cough up the extra cash for it.

I look forward to your feedback,
Meg

5 comments:

  1. Chobani is soooooo much better than any of the other greek yogurts i've tried! If you don't want to get Chobani, definitely try some other kind of greek yogurt! It's the best :)

    I love the raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, honey, and mango flavors!!!

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  2. I grew up eating yogurt made by my grandmother. Most traditional (non-Greek) yogurts on the market today seem more like pudding to me than yogurt. They are so thin and really sweet. Don't get me wrong, I ate them for years, especially the one that has all the dessert flavors. I generally ate them as a healthier alternative to pudding. Once I discovered Chobani, it reminded me of the yogurt I grew up eating. I've been hooked on it ever since.

    I've tried all of the fruit varieties except pineapple (don't like pineapple) at least once. Generally speaking though, I don't usually buy them that way. I normally get either the plain or the vanilla and then just add in my own fruit because it keeps the points lower for me on WW.

    I *wish* I could find it for $1.25! It's $1.39 per container at my Target. When Target does run them on sale for $1.25, I usually stock up. LOL When it's not on sale, I buy the 32 oz. container for $5.99 and just portion it out myself because it's cheaper that way.

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  3. Chobani is not all that great, nutritionally. I am REALLY glad that you looked at the ingredients and compared!!!! It isn't all that special. I would recommend finding a place that sells Fage greek yogurt - get the NON flavored, 0% fat kind. By itself it is GROSS! However, I put a little bit of vanilla flavoring, cinnamon, and artificial sweetener (spleda or truvia) and... it is AMAZING! And it is MUCH more healthy than anything else on the market! :) And yes, it is expensive as well, but worth it in the end.

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  4. I am not sure why but I just love chobani. Although I try to view it as a treat rather than an everyday thing, it IS rather expensive. I think the reason for the huge hype w chobani is the taste flavor. Personally I think its the best greek yogurt I've ever tried. And I tried a bunch. And on a personal side, i find loyalty towards them simply because their twitter handle is so sweet =P

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  5. I don't get the Chobani hype either. It does taste better then the Fage though. Then again, I am not a fan of Greek yogurt in general.

    You haven't blogged in a while. I kind of fell off the wagon with finals and a vacation, but I am back to blogging on the regular. Hope your post again soon. :)

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