Pierre’s Yovation Delights Frozen Yogurt Fans with Creative Flavors and Probiotic Benefits

Pierre’s Ice Cream has been making people “scream for ice cream” for more than 80 years. As a leading manufacturer of more than 235 premium dairy ice cream and frozen dessert products, Pierre’s knows what it’s doing and knows how to please.

Since its humble beginning in Cleveland in 1932, Pierre’s has carefully crafted its recipes, selecting only the finest ingredients from all over the world. Through the years, the company has remained dedicated to providing a quality product that delivers delightful taste.

In keeping with its tradition for creating innovative, indulgent products and flavors, Pierre’s launched Yovation^® Probiotic Frozen Yogurt in 2009. Yovation answered growing consumer interest in a delicious, premium probiotic frozen yogurt available in a variety of imaginative flavors featuring less fat and fewer calories than ice cream.

“Our goal was to satisfy the demand for a lower-in-fat, better-for-you treat with flavors that went beyond the standard vanilla, chocolate and strawberry,” said Shelley Roth, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pierre’s.

Innovating with Stability 

Pierre’s was already manufacturing a very successful frozen yogurt line at the time, made with traditional yogurt cultures. “Recognizing the growing popularity of probiotics, we were inspired to seize the opportunity with BC30™ probiotic to create a unique probiotic frozen yogurt that offered a distinctive difference versus all other brands,” continued Roth.

BC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086) is well known for its ability to withstand a variety of food manufacturing processes. Ordinary probiotics such aslactobacillus and bifidobacterium are very difficult to incorporate into frozen products as the extreme temperature shifts produce ice crystals that destroy the probiotic cells. But BC30 survives the harsh processes involved with ice cream making and remains exceptionally stable throughout the manufacturing process, storage, shipping and even the journey through the digestive system.

“Based on past experiences with probiotics, we were concerned about the survivability levels of BC30 in the final product,” said Roth. “We conducted our own due diligence and ran numerous tests at different stages of the manufacturing and storage process. All of our testing happily confirmed BC30’s claims.”

Yovation Ice Cream 

As a result of the collaboration, Pierre’s introduced Yovation. Made with traditional live and active yogurt cultures, and enhanced by BC30, Yovation is an irresistibly smooth and creamy frozen  yogurt that offers indulgent taste along with probiotic benefits. “Imagine your favorite ice cream flavors that can now be enjoyed as a ‘better-for-you’ refreshing frozen yogurt,” said Roth.

Yovation’s popularity continues to grow as more frozen yogurt lovers discover its benefits and indulgent flavors. “Pierre’s takes pride in using only the freshest and finest ingredients available in all our ice creams and frozen treats. BC30 lives up to those standards and is a key ingredient to Yovation’s success,” said Roth. “With the combined efforts of the BC30 and Pierre’s Ice Cream Company, probiotic benefits are available in an everyday treat people already enjoy.”

The Yovation product line was expanded to seven flavors: Black Cherries & Chocolate Chunks, Butter Pecan, Cappuccino, Chocolate, Moose Tracks®, Vanilla, Vanilla Pomegranate Blueberry.

Today, Yovation continues to be a success. Distribution has grown beyond Pierre’s Northern Ohio home to 8 states. That number is expected to increase with new opportunities on the horizon in 2013.

Want to include BC30 in your food or beverage product? Contact us.