Now Trending: Purple Rice Yogurt Drinks

Source: IG @koomiyoghurt

Remember when people used to travel to the US, try frozen yogurt and be inspired to open a frozen yogurt shop in their home country? The same thing is happening for purple rice yogurt drinks in Australia. And yes, they’re made with yogurt. It’s basically a yogurt shake with rice. These drinks are very popular in Australia, China, and Southeast Asia, where there are a growing number of shops specializing in rice yogurt drinks.

If you’re wondering what purple rice yogurt drinks are, they’re made with fresh yogurt and purple rice (aka forbidden rice). The rice is sweet and chewy. The rice is steamed, cooled and blended with yogurt. The end result is a slightly tangy yogurt shake.

Perceived health benefits

Rice yogurt drinks are perceived as healthier with 50% less sugar than fully sweetened typical boba milk tea drinks. Forbidden rice is a whole grain that’s higher in protein and fiber than brown rice and has antioxidants. Rice yogurt shops emphasize that the drinks are all natural and made with fresh fruit and real dairy. Some of the shops make their own yogurt every day. Yogurt has live and active cultures.

Origins

Sources say that the purple rice yogurt drink originated in Shanghai. The Chinese origin story makes sense when you consider the ingredients of the purple rice yogurt drink. Forbidden rice gets its name from the fact that it was once reserved for the emperor of China. The emperor believed that eating forbidden rice promoted health and longevity. Drinkable yogurt is popular in China. Yomie’s first outlet was in Sydney’s Chinatown. Typical variations of yogurt rice drinks include Chinese flavors like red beans and jujubes.

Popularity

Let’s look at Google Trends to learn more about the online search trends for purple rice yogurt drinks. Prior to August 2018, searches for purple rice yogurt didn’t register on Google Trends because there were so few searches. Interest hit a high in November 2019, fell sharply in early December and has begun to climb again. Searches for Yomie’s have also been increasing.

Interest is greatest in Singapore, followed by Malaysia, Australia and Singapore. The search volume elsewhere is very low.

Purple rice yogurt drinks were popularized outside of China by an Australian chain called Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt. Their first location was in Sydney’s Chinatown in late 2018. They’ve expanded to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macau, United States (one location in Bellevue, Washington), and Thailand. People have been known to wait over an hour for a purple rice yogurt drink at their shop in Sydney’s Chinatown. A Yogurt Cow claims to have about 900 outlets across China. Koomi, which also serves frozen yogurt, has locations in Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. Yee’s Yogurt has locations in Australia and Malaysia.

In the US, 626 Night Market, the popular food-oriented Asian night market with locations throughout California, lists purple rice drinks on their wish list for 2020. The market is known for emerging food trends.

A new purple rice yogurt shop is about to open in Arcadia, CA, which also happens to be the original home of the 626 Night Market.

With all the boba shops in town, it would be nice to see a new type of drink offered. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to have a frozen yogurt shop serve yogurt drinks. A few already make yogurt and others can use premade yogurt. Add a blender and ice machine, learn how to cook some purple rice, and play around with recipes.