Yoghurt Comparison… plus one brands dirty little secret
Now I’m passionate about many things in life, but not many things more-so than yoghurt. Do you know how many weird looks I get from people when I tell them one of my all time favourite foods is Greek yoghurt? No not donuts, chocolate, or pizza, just good old Greek yoghurt. Have you ever had to put a self-imposed ban on the purchase of the Jalna Pot Set Vanilla yoghurt, because it’s no longer financially sustainable to consume a tub a day? Because I have.
But like me, if you’ve spent too much time in the supermarkets deliberating between which yoghurt to buy, then let’s save you some time (and some money) - Today we’re summarising the best yoghurt options for you, and uncovering a dirty little secret of the “Big Protein” industry while we are at it.
With a simple analysis of the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) we can see the nutritional content of many of these yogurts is pretty similar, with Chobani Fit, YoPro, Paul’s Plus Protein, Woolworths High Protein and Siggi’s Vanilla performing very similarly. I’m not going to rank them because context matters in nutrition. High protein doesn’t make something the best, nor does the lowest calories. For example, if you are aiming for a calorie surplus, you may want to go for the yoghurt with the highest calories! See below for a breakdown of the NIP of some popular yoghurt choices in Australia.
Key takeaways:
Danone’s YoPro and Chobani Fit’s nutrition content is essentially the same - Go for whatever is cheaper (generally Chobani Fit), or whatever you like the taste of better
Chobani’s “No Added Sugar” range may sound healthier, but basically contains fat in place of sugar, for essentially the same calories. Personally as someone who’s training is tailored more towards endurance and a higher CHO diet, I’d take high CHO over high fat - Plus the the “No Added Sugar” range presents more like runny cream than a heavenly thick yoghurt - It’s a no from me
Pauls Plus Protein - This is a new kid on the block I haven’t actually tried, but the nutrition profile stacks up with similar energy, protein, fats and carbs to YoPro and Chobani Fit - Will be trying this out for sure.
Cocobella Coconut plus protein - If you are eating this for ethical/dairy intolerance reasons then I commend you. If you are eating this because you think it is healthier or tastes better than dairy yoghurt you are simply wrong. Only includes half the protein and almost double the calories of most dairy alternatives with 7.4g saturated fat!
Siggis Vanilla Yogurt - A nice clean yogurt with the protein content matching Chobani Fit and Yopro, plus with about 4 x times the calcium content!
And now, drum roll please whilst we expose the clever marketing tactics of the “Big Protein” industry…
If you are buying Chobani Fit over their standard Greek Yoghurt range for the protein content alone, then don’t bother. Per 100g serve, the latter contains just 0.8g less protein. This shows the sneaky marketing tactics brands will use to convince you a product is better just because they have highlighted the protein content, and shows why sometimes it’s worth reading the label to see if the extra financial investment is worth it. If you are worried about the extra 22 calories or that extra 0.8g protein (per 100g serve), then go for it, otherwise go for whatever is on special to save a few bucks!