The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt

Went to the revamped SM North Edsa Annex and picked up a couple of frozen yogurt desserts from the newly opened White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt. It offers cold desserts made with frozen yogurt, offering possibly healthier—and not to mention more environmentally viable—options to ice cream.

The history of frozen yogurt traces its way back to the 70s in the United States but only took off just recently with the commercial success met by international franchises such as Red Mango and Pinkberry. Frozen yogurt ususally consists of low-fat yogurt, sweetener, gelatin, corn syrup, coloring and flavoring, and is blended in an ice cream machine. It melts slower than ice cream, but unlike ice cream, frozen yogurt is more tart and not as creamy.

It’s the tartness that can throw people off, and the frozen yogurt in White Hat is no exception. If you have a strong aversion towards yogurt, then this dessert may not be for you. But if you can take yogurt, then let me give you eight reasons to visit White Hat:


This list is basically their dessert formula, and while there is still that redundant M&M and Cheesecake option, it’s nice that White Hat has come to incorporate locally-available ingredients and flavors into their repertoire. Unfortunately, a lot of the ingredients seemed like they were taken out of the can or the jar—even if they display fresh fruits on the counter. So even if they have a decent yogurt base, I can’t help but feel cheated because the toppings are not exactly fresh. Instead of taking their yogurt to another level, stuff like their bottled cherries and kiwi preserves actually dampen the experience of wanting to eat yogurt. It’s not as good as it’s supposed to be and not exactly as healthy. In the end, the selling of this ‘healthy’ dessert becomes another ploy to market a commodity.


And it is an expensive commodity. A big yogurt combo sells for P150, and a small one for P120. If you don’t like any of their set combos, you can buy just the frozen yogurt and pay P85 for a small 4oz cup and P115 for the larger 6 oz cup. Two toppings cost P35.