Regular Food Review: Chobani Oat Yogurt

In another lifetime, when I worked for a food publication, my inbox was always flooded with emails from PR flacks and account managers, offering to send me some product or another to try: a new ice cream bar, a limited-edition snack, a startup’s fizzy drink — once, a bounty of Migos-branded Popeyes that fed like 20 people. I only occasionally said yes to these offers because I felt weird about the industry norm of accepting freebies, and also commuting in to accept deliveries was kind of a pain.

This has been on my mind recently because I’ve been eating a lot of Chobani oat yogurt, which someone from Chobani once offered to send for free as a sneak peek. The strawberry granola crunch kind is actually really tasty. It’s pink, smooth, runny, amazingly dairy-like, and as sweet as a dessert — and that’s even before you mix in the granola crumbles, almond slivers, and strawberry-flavored gummy squares that are stored in a separate compartment for safekeeping. This yogurt retails for something like $2 per 5.3-ounce carton at my nearest Kroger; $1, if it’s on sale because it’s very close to expiring. I mostly buy it when it’s discounted, but sometimes I spring for the regular price; that’s how much I like it. Still, I have been thinking lately that I should have accepted the Chobani offer back when I had the chance. I can’t help but believe that I would be happier now if I had: I could have been enjoying this yogurt for years by now, or maybe I would have had the opportunity to try more flavors, or at the very least, I could have saved up to $2. Oh well — life, like yogurt, is best enjoyed without regrets. 4/5 stars.