Which of your kids likes to snack on something after coming home from school? Actually,how many of you tend to snack? And it’s usually something quick and easy to access like biscuits or samosas or chips, am I right? (Raises hand). Danone India‘s Greek yoghurt promises to do away with those cravings and keep you feeling guilt-free at the end of it too.
Last week, on what started as a very sunny Wednesday afternoon, I was invited to a session by Danone on the launch of their Greek Yoghurt in India. Danone is a brand I am pretty familiar with, ever since I visited the US back in 2010. At that time, the supermarkets were always stocked with the curd boxes and my 4-year-old daughter would make a beeline for those shelves!
Imagine her delight when I told her I’d be attending a Danone blogger meet. Her first question was: ‘Will you be getting me some flavoured yoghurt?’ Kids!
So anyway,Β I landed up nice and early, got to meet some of my favourite food blogger friends and settled down to a session that would prove to be both informative and delicious!
ALL ABOUT GREEK YOGHURT
So what is Greek Yoghurt? You’d have noticed that Danone curd or dahi, comes in boxes and are thick and creamy as compared to the packets of curd you buy or the home-made versions. Now the plain Greek Yoghurt by Danone is the thicker, creamier version of your favourite dahi!
In a delicious combination of low-fat and no added sugar, this yoghurt contains 87% more protein versus regular yoghurt.
If you want a more detailed break-up of the nutritional aspect, check this table below.
In addition to the plain yoghurt, Danone offers four tasty fruit flavours: mango, strawberry, vanilla and blueberry. What’s the advantage here, you ask?
- Contains fruit pieces
- Completely free of artificial flavouring and colour
- Has higher protein and calcium content than regular curd
- Nutritional value: Energy (113 Kcal); Protein (3.2 g);Β Fat (3.1 g); Calcium (110 mg); Carbohydrates {18 g inclusive of fruit sugars (13g)}
I can tell you from first-hand experience that these are truly delicious! We got to sample the mango and blueberry ones in the hamper given.
Oh and the best part! They are launching two new flavours for the festive season: Litchi and Peach! Watch out for those.
Nutritionist with Danone, Dr. Madhavi Marathe explained how much care goes into the packaging and cold-chain maintenance of the product. From the time it gets prepared till it reaches the retailer, Danone is very particular about quality control. They even check if the retailer has a refrigerator that will stay on through non-working hours!
The Live Demo
What’s a food event without some food and recipes, right? Chef Abhijit Saha from Fava got into the game and quickly whipped up delicious items using Greek yoghurt. One thing I can tell you is this man knows his yoghurt! I simply loved the way he played around with the humble item and turned it into exotic cuisine!
Here are some of the dishes he made for the bloggers at the event. (Special thanks to Vidya and Rachna for the images of the panna cotta and the carpaccio)
We wound up the session with a scrumptious high tea hosted by Fava. We sampled each of the above dishes as part of the spread and I can tell you, the quality was absolutely top-notch!
I wish I was a recipe queen so I could quickly tell you what went into each dish, but I contented myself with wiping the plate clean. If you’re like me, don’t worry, just the box of fruit yoghurt is enough to keep you or your kid extremely happy at the end of the day.
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*Disclaimer: This isΒ a sponsored post but the opinions expressed are my own. Facts and nutritional data provided are from Danone.Β
The humble curd has come a long way. I like the new flavours, will check out peach I think π
It certainly has! I loved the mango flavor. Waiting to try out lychee π
Wow! I had seen the photographs of this meet on Social media. Glad to see you all together. I am not a liver of flavored yogurts. But their upcoming flavors looks interesting. I think I should try the Lychee one.
Ooh you should try the mango one. It’s closest to the natural taste, Shalini! The meet itself was super fun!
I love Greek yogurt. They are so much creamier and thicker than the normal ones. We get Danone here along with many other brands. I try all of them. Love the flavored ones. Itβs good that you guys were able to attend this. Must have been a great experience.
Thank you, Vinitha. It was a wonderful way to spend a Wednesday. Yes, I recall how popular this item was in the US too.
I have seen the brand before… But don’t remember if I tried their yogurt. The dishes made by the chef look so delicious… I love flavoured yogurt and they serve as an awesome snack on a summer day
You’re right! They really are delicious. The recipes were so tasty! I can’t make any of them thought, except for the smoothie maybe, because that was the simplest one.
Wow! you seem to have had gourmet yoghurt it seems π
Great informative post on Danone and I was following you guys on twitter when you all were attending it. I had a few qs regarding how its better than Dahi – guess I have to stick to the nutritional info for that!!!
Thanks for sharing this Shy!
Thanks so much, Shalini! It was a really fun day π Regarding how it’s better than Dahi, there is a detailed section on the Danone India website, linked in my post. Hopefully that should help. I think they remove the extra whey from the yoghurt in the culture process. I am no nutritionist so I may be off the mark but do check it out π
Such a fun event it was,the commute back home notwithstanding. Always a pleasure to spend time with you. At my place, we all sampled them. Danone is a favorite at home and I am really looking forward to trying out their new variants.
I am looking forward to the lychee one. It’s my favourite fruit as well as ice-cream flavour. Yes it was good to catch up, rains notwithstanding.
I made the healthy swap some time ago and I’m so happy. I have only tried Epigamia so far, but now I have to try this, shouldn’t I?
It has your seal of approval after all π
You’d love it. There were people who asked about Epigamia and some other brand too, but Danone deftly and diplomatically said that they don’t compare brands as a personal and company policy. I thought that was very gracious of them. π