FRO-YO BATTLE: PINKBERRY VS. RED MANGO

The battle of the “fro-yo” companies is a war that has been waging on for years and years now. From the early days of Dannon’s foray into the frozen yogurt world, to the emergence of giants like TCBY, Penguins, and Golden Spoon, fro-yo was a phenomenon that swept the nation. That is until the whole “juice/smoothie” thing came along (but that’s another story in itself…).

As pop culture continues to spin its ugly head, the masses continue their battle to find simple pleasures with less guilt. Sure, the cupcake craze has maintained a steady hold on trend-scathed America (think Sprinkles, Crumbs, Magnolia Bakery); so has the rage for foreign-based pastries and sweets (Japan comes to mind with Beard Papa cream puffs, and crepes by Genki). But the latest fad to hit the fan in recent years: the resurgence of frozen yogurt; but not your typical TCBY-esque fro-yo. I’m talking the likes of Pinkberry and/or Red Mango.

These new-school fro-yo hot-spots have brought the frenzy of tart-tasting yogurt back to the forefront of mainstream pop-culture. Even MTV has been smitten, featuring Pinkberry as one of several different “spots” on The Hills. In L.A., especially, Pinkberry stores are popping up on every corner – almost comparable to seeing a Coffee Bean or Starbucks; it’s sort of like a fast-spreading disease. For the longest time I vowed not to allow myself to be infected. But being the trend-victim that I tend to be, I marched into the Beverly Hills store one day and have since found it hard not to get my fix. I have been fro-yoed.

Just as I started to come to terms with my addiction, I began noticing the faces of new places popping up while on my many drives around town: Red Mango… Kiwi Berry… Yogurberry… (even Loveberry in The Bay). It was as if I was being thrown into a deluge of brands all beckoning me to their stores… kind of like that nightmare where I’m drowning in a sea of Rock and Republics, Citizens, Chip and Peppers, Trues, etc. (OK, so I never had that nightmare… but I often day-dream about that happening. Now that’s the way to go, if ever you had to go like that…) I resolved to stick with one (Pinkberry) and call it quits. But the inquisitive monster inside of me started to play mind-games. I had to know which of the fleet was the better fro-yo: Pinkberry OR Red Mango!?

While visiting The Bay over the weekend, we happened to drive through Palo Alto after I was scooped up from SFO. Originally, I was looking for coffee. But we drove past a Red Mango, and I seriously made my friends stop the car. There was only one mission at hand. So we nixed the coffee idea, walked right into Red Mango, I ordered a regular yogurt with mochi, and was instantaneously sold. Red Mango wins! Not that there’s a serious difference or anything. If you were to dissect a Pinkberry and Red Mango side-by-side, you’d probably get the same shit: hip/mod/minimalist décor, loungey surroundings, basic yogurt flavors (RM: regular and green tea; PB: the same PLUS the new coffee flavor), and a plethora of toppings including fresh fruit (mango, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, etc.), Cap’n Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, mochi, etc.-etc.-etc. The only difference that I could ascertain: PB -–just a tad more tart (more yogurt-ish), RM –-just a bit less tart and slightly creamier.

But the winner in my book: Red Mango. Not for taste or what have you – but because between them, it’s the first among the two ---originating in South Korea back in 2002. Pinkberry was started later (2005) by Korean Americans, who were both probably enthralled by RM during a visit to the motha’land. I'm all for whoever got to the finish line first. Ha.

So. You may choose your own adventure, and decide for yourself which one is better. I, on the other hand, have spoken. The word of Wen. Thanks be to me.