Siggi's vs Smári: A Comparison of Icelandic Yogurt

Siggi's Plain Yogurt

I do not own this photo. Source

Icelandic yogurt, or skyr, is a traditional dairy product of Iceland with roots dating back to thousands of years. Adding cultures to raw milk, the milk is then strained of whey and thus results in a yogurt much thicker than traditional yogurt. The process also permits skyr to contain 2-3x the amount of protein as conventional yogurt. In a 150g serving of sky, you can receive 12-15g of protein and the equivalent of 3-4 glasses of milk. Traditionally, skyr is not flavored but national brands today have filled shelves with flavored skyr ranging from peach to blueberry to pomegranate.

Already a fan of Siggi's Icelandic-styled yogurt, I picked up a few containers of a newer, lesser known brand called Smári and decided to compare the two. Here's what I found when comparing the two brands' version of plain skyr.

Siggi's Icelandic-style yogurt (150g)
Nutritional Information:
80 kcal
15g protein
20% dv Calcium
0g fat
4g sugar
Ingredients: Pasteurized Skim Milk, vegetable rennet

Smári's Organic Icelandic Yogurt (170g)
Nutritional Information:
100 kcal
20g protein
20% dv Calcium
0g fat
6g sugar
Ingredients: Pasteurized Skim Milk, contains no animal rennet

Smári's Plain Non-Fat

Yogurt

I do not claim ownership of this photo. Source

What makes Siggi's special:
Siggi's founder Siggi Hilmarsson, an Icelandic expat in the States,  promises to use milk from cows who have not been fed growth hormones like rBGH and who have been fed grass while raised on family farms (in New York State). Siggi's is certified gluten-free, kosher, vegetarian and made with no artificial ingredients, sweeteners, or coloring. (*Siggi's is not certified organic.)


What makes Smári special:
This brand uses Jersey Cows (in Wisconsin) whose milk is 15%-20% richer in protein than average. Smári is certified organic, kosher, vegetarian, low-sodium and gluten-free.


The Taste Verdict:

I was actually surprised that the container of Smári, although 20g larger than that of Siggi's, contained more protein. Texturally, I found Siggi's skyr to be much richer than Smári's. Siggi's has a rich enough consistency that you're almost tempted to bite down. Alternatively, Smári yogurt, while creamy and thicker than traditional yogurt, was about as rich as Greek yogurt. This particular skyr needed to be stirred before consumption to blend the liquid into the solid yogurt. This "problem" did not arise when eating Siggi's. If you, like me, look for your skyr to be rich beyond Greek yogurt and have a tacky quality to it that needs to settle in your mouth for longer before you swallow, Siggi's wins in this regard.

Like any non or low fat plain yogurt both yogurts have a sour taste that may be destabilizing at first but quickly disappears as you grow accustom to the sourness and hone in on its savory aspects. I tried both the plain flavor and the blueberry flavor from both brands, and while the plain flavors were comparable, among the flavored skyrs there was a clear and definite winner. I was caught off guard by how sour, almost acidic, Smári's blueberry skyr was. After being a longtime fan of Siggi's products, both plain and flavored, I thought my taste buds would know what to expect. Smári's blueberry skyr was nauseatingly sour with no end in sight. By contrast, I found Siggi's blueberry flavoring to have a natural sweetness that complimented both the savory and sour qualities of the skyr.

Smári yogurt is a commendable, slightly cheaper alternative to Siggi's with a packaging that's a hybrid of Siggi's and Greek yogurt, but it certainly behaves more like a Greek yogurt. For the blueberry (and possibly other flavored skys) I would definitely choose Siggi's on taste alone. For both brand's plain 0% fat sky I would choose Siggi's again since its thicker texture that you can sink your teeth into is what I personally look for in a skyr. If you're adamant on eating certified-organic only products, Smári's skyr is the one you'd probably prefer.

-Stacey Ladusch

Sources:
http://siggisdairy.com/
http://smariorganics.com/
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/