Goji Smoothie

I figured it was finally time to start trying Tasti's newest products. I tried a sundae a few weeks ago and was impressed, so yesterday I moved onto the new line of Jamba Juice-like smoothies. I got the Goji Berry Smoothie--which has frozen strawberry, fresh banana, Vanilla Tasti, and goji berry mix. Given that smoothies are an important effort by Tasti to diversify the menu, let's break this one down:

1. WTF is a goji berry!!???? I think the customer is supposed to just be like, "Hmm... it sounds Asian and trendy--must be good for you and delicious!" Wikipedia informs that the most common name is actually "Wolfberry," which sounds much less Asian, trendy, and delicious. Rather, it sounds kind of hairy--I see why they went with goji. It turns out that Tasti is part of a pretty interesting trend:

Renowned in Asia as a highly nutritious food, wolfberries have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for about 1,900 years (Gross et al., 2006). Their undocumented legend, however, is considerably older, as wolfberries are often linked in Chinese lore to Shen Nung (Shennong), China's legendary First Emperor, mythical father of agriculture, and herbalist who lived circa 2,800 BC. Since the early 21st century in the United States and other such developed countries, there has been rapidly growing recognition of wolfberries for their nutrient richness and antioxidant qualities, leading to a profusion of consumer products. Such rapid commercial development extends from wolfberry having a high ranking among superfruits expected to be part of a multi-billion dollar market by 2011.

Who knew Tasti could find inspiration from China's legendary First Emporer. Superfruits are fruits with crazy awesome nutritional value and keep you healthy and are delicious. Tasti clearly read the memo on superfruits as a multi-billion dollar market--all four smoothie flavors (acai, goji, pomegranate, and mangosteen) are all superfruits. They do not include the more traditional, but less trendy superfruits such as blueberries or cranberries. In any case, these new superfruit smoothies clearly fit in Tasti's healthy but yummy niche and their new brand image. (Side note: The good thing about numbered posts is that you can skip boring stuff like this!)

2. These smoothies are expensive!! A small cost me $5.75! It was very filling and the price is about the same you'll find at Jamba, but this price will keep most from having a smoothie as anything but an occasional treat.

3. The server was definitely not very well trained on these smoothies. He looked completely perplexed when I ordered and then had to leave the counter to go look at the promotional poster to see what was in the goji smoothie. He also didn't know the price and had to look it up in the binder. It appears the smoothies aren't selling too well yet...

4. The process of making the smoothie was very poorly presented as well. The server opened up the fridge and took this huge bottle of "goji mix"--which is syrupy and sugary and kind of gross looking. The whole point of these superfruit smoothies is how fresh and healthy they are--and right in front of your eyes, they show you how processed and sugary they must be. Obviously, they aren't going to import fresh gojiberrry, but don't let me see exactly what the gross mix looks like! Make it where I can't see it! It reminds me of when I was 14 and ran to get my favorite soft serve at a Red Sox game and watched them for the first time pour the lumpy, entirely disgusting mix into the machine.

5. So--I made it to point 5 and haven't yet mentioned HOW IT TASTES. And, in fact, the answer is quite positive. The smoothies are great! Without ice, the smoothies aren't as cold and chunky and Jamba--in fact, I amazingly enough, preferred Tasti smoothies to Jamba Juice. The gojiberry was a unique and good taste, and the strawberry/banana/vanilla Tasti really complemented it well. It's very tart but sweet. Nutritional value was not posted on the poster or online. Do any readers know? Comment away! I'd imagine it's not too many calories. In any case, I'm excited to try the other flavors! And Tasti's diversification efforts are off to a good start!

TASTI (3 of 4 stars)