Kiwiberri Grand Opening
Pinkberry copycat Kiwiberri opened today, and while they're giving away free yogurt all evening long, it's really not worth the gas money or the parking hassle.
Anyone who reads this blog knows I love Pinkberry, and when I saw the first signs of Kiwiberri, I was just happy to have more sour-tasting yogurt in the neighborhood. Then things in the blogosphere went sour, and my comment section became a battleground for the Pinkberry/Kiwiberri feud.
I promise I went to Kiwiberri with a completely open mind. In fact, I really wanted to like it, simply for the fact that their location is closer to me than Pinkberry. Bottom line: not only was it not as good as Pinkberry (or Fiore, for that matter), it was actually kinda bad. The yogurt had no depth to it, no richness, no creaminess. It was just sour, then it morphed into a bitter aftertaste. The toppings were awful: blueberries were mushy and tasted a bit spoiled, the mango wasn't ripe enough, and the "granola" was actually Kashi Go-Lean Crunch (classy).
Compared to Pinkberry and Fiore, Kiwiberri's portions are small. Their regular size was equivalent to the Pinkberry small, and at a slightly higher price ($5.00 vs. $4.95 for a medium with 3/toppings), Kiwiberri doesn't exactly bring on the value. Skimpy on the toppings too.
Was there anything good about Kiwiberri? Let's see... they have bathrooms (Pinkberry doesn't). And that's about it.
In addition to the mediocre yogurt, the store seems to be the hangout of an unsavory cast of characters. When I walked in, a group of about 10 hoodlum-looking guys proceeded to stare me up and down the entire time I was in the store. They weren't eating yogurt, they were just... hanging out. Every couple minutes, a manager-looking guy in a Kiwiberri apron would go over to their table and give them all high fives. Hey, if the yogurt business doesn't work out, they can always go back to running drugs.
Me, I'll continue to fuel my sour yogurt addiction at Pinkberry.
Kiwiberri
Minimall at the corner of 3rd/La Cienega (kitty corner to the Beverly Center)
26 comments:
I tried to keep an open mind when trying Fiore. The instant I tasted it, I knew it wasn't the same as Pinkberry. J & I were there on Wednesday night - 30 minute wait!
Kiwiberry should really fire that guy if he's letting his hoodlum friends stare down the clientele. That sort of behaviour is unacceptable.
Hey CC...I'm sorry girl. I know you've been pretty excited about Kiwiberri opening for several months now.
I guess I'm just gonna have to wait for 6th and Berendo to open!
Thank you "REAL yogurt watch" mama!
your blog is obviously a kiwiberry promotional web site that pretends to be a pinkberry promotional web site so that people associated with kiwiberry can post comments so people think you're really a pinkberry operative. very clever. very clever indeed.
but thanks to your post neither me nor any of my thousands of yogurt eating friends will ever step foot in Kiwiberry. thanks for the warning.
Hmm... maybe, JUST MAYBE this weekend, MS and I can check out Pinkberry!!! *sigh* I feel so out of the times... hahah! Thanks for the heads up about Kiwiberry. I'll pass and just straight head to PB!
Another copycat alert...'gelatoDay Italian Natural Low-fat Yogurt' has opened on Melrose east of Vine. Oy vay. Pinkberry is really starting to annoy me.
http://dilettantediary.blogspot.com/2006/09/pinkberry-yogurt-get-your-act-together.html
I agree, PB should get their act together... there is another, Beach Berry... it's in HB, on Main and PCH. The taste is not like PB, tasted more like Fiore, but never the less, I can get my frozen yogurt fix.
funny that I got the same exact comments from 'yogurtfanatik' on my blog. Is he really surfing the web to come to the defense of kb, or is he a kb operative? I suspect the latter. Keep selling those 'morgages' (sic) since I suspect your yogurt enterprise might be short-lived.
Um ... the owner of Pinkberry is a woman.
And I think we have officially just entered the land of crazy.
Hi readers -
A poster named Franchisee left a long comment that included financial information on Pinkberry and Kiwiberri. I chose to delete the comment because both Pinkberry and Kiwiberri are private companies, and I believe such information should remain private.
Generally, I have a policy of not deleting comments because I believe in freedom of speech (and heck, it's been extremely entertaining to see the immaturity of a supposed "business owner" and "morgage (sic) broker"). However, I will delete any comments that contain financially private information relating to either company.
Also, I'd like to publicly state that I have no association whatsoever with Pinkberry. I simply enjoy their yogurt, just as I enjoy macaroons from Boule, sushi from Nozawa, and french fries from Burger King.
I find it very interesting how most of these so called blogs seem very "AD"like
(ie)" Man this stuff is good Im hooked its the best and can be found at 1234 Idiot St. los angels ca, 90210, (323)555-1212 and they open from 9to 10 and heres some product shots I took before I ate this stuff.
While shopping in Beverly Hills my girlfriends and I stopped by the kiwiberri in Beverly Hills and we saw Jessica Alba along with her entourage there, We were a few customers behind her in line, so we were able to spy on her order, she asked for the Original with Mochi,strawberry and banannas, I decided to copy her and try the same combo, All I have to say is the girl has good taste,
I find this interesting. I don't know who is stupider the people arguing or me reading the whole thing.
I just want an opportunity to Franchise one of these companies. Since Pinkberry isn't planning to build anymore stores this year, what about KiwiBerri????
Doesn't matter really, who ever decides to main stream and grow faster wins this match up. Who ever decides to back it up with some solid advertising and branding wins. And make some solid location decisions. That simple, who cares how it taste alike. McDonald wasn't the first to make hamburgers or StarBucks wasn't the first to make coffee. But they got smart and marketed themselves well. So now it is hard for other startups to compete.
So anyways, if any of the representative from either company are reading this blog would send me some franchise information that would be great. Cost per store, Franchise Fees, Locations, Signage, etc. Requirements into starting would be great too.
With enough advertising most people won't care who came first and who copy who. It won't even matter who taste better, because it isn't about taste but who can market better.
Kiwiberry sucks, it just doesn't get any better than Pinkberry, well except for Yogen Fruz in the U.K.
you know how radio and television incorporated the products in their shows, well, I think that is what colleen and some other bloggers are doing...nicely done...Do you know that a restaurant could get a review by paying a pr firm to introduce the critic to that individual restuarant...also a pr firm could have a restuarant listed on the special food section every month for a fee about 3k. mind you, I've never been to any of these establishments, but I would love to own one, if one of them would franchise it.....
Okay, so heres my opinion on things:
Along with the trends, come with the competiton: the story of Pinkberry and Kiwiberri.
Pinkberry popped up to the scene after paparazzi caught some stars eating at it. My real question is, WHO CARES who eats there, i mean seriously i could care less if i was eating the same thing as paris hilton or whoever else. Its the product that matters at the end of the day.
The products are just under preference.
Kiwiberri really does seem like a Genetic brand of Pinkberry.
Pinkberry's portions are a bit bigger than Kiwiberri's and the texture is alot smoother.
To: YogurtFanatiK-Your pathetic, your obviously from Kiwiberri, and you shouldn't try to sabotage their company like that. Mkae your product just as good and just as competive and it'll sell, Instead of expecting it to sell itself. If you have better competition, you have to strive to beat it.
To: Colleen- I agree with you on the decision of pinkberry over kiwiberry, STOP ATTACKING THE GIRl. shes just trying to express her opinion on this blog. If you think shes some promotional site, just check it out for yourself and make your own judgment
So anyways, if any of the representative from either company are reading this blog would send me some franchise information that would be great.
As entertaining as all of these comments are I cannot relate. Here in Northern California we don't have a yogurt war. In fact, I am hard pressed to find any frozen yogurt, much less a healthy alternative worth standing in long lines for. Instead, we only have the self-indulgent allternatives that lead to nothing more than regret, heart palpitations and O.T. in the gym. NorCal is long overdue for any of these mythical yogurt heavens that you all so passionately speak of. In addition, I have been trying to contact, Pinkberry, Snowberry, Kiwiberry and Red Mango for franchise opportunities and I have gotten blueberries waiting for a response. So, to this yogurt war I say "rage on" and bring it to my doorstep.
You should try this place on Westwood, its called California sushi and roll. They have this yogurt machine that is to die for, 10 times better than pinkberry i swearrrrrrrr!!!
However lame it may be that I actually took the time to look this up, I have to point out some glaring misstatements about ingredients and nutrition content:
In response to the post by "just the truth" about the sugar content and ingredients, did "jtt" simply make up those figures? He or she attributes them to the pinkberry website, when in fact the site states that the original flavor contains only 12 grams of sugar per 1/2 cup serving. Extrapolating from that (multiplying by 3.6 for a large and 2.2 for a medium), it appears that a large contains 43.2 g sugar (vs. 65 grams according to "just the truth), and the medium contains 26.4 g sugar (vs. 40, according to JTT),
Regarding the post by "y-baby" claiming that it is made with whipping cream, the yogurt is non-fat, so I can't figure how that one would work.
In any event, in response to both posters, the ingredient list IS posted on the website:
http://www.pinkberry.com/html/product_5.php
Even if this has occurred since the original post, it is fair to say that no size contains "600 calories, 40% of which come from fat," as claimed by "y-baby." According to the website, the medium size of the original flavor has all of 154 calories, 0% of which come from fat. (The large only has 252).
Colleen fails to mention that Pinkberry itself was a straight copycat of Red Mango based in South Korea. Pinkberry made it so big in the states that when Red Mango opened, it was never the number one yogurt store.
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