Cold Stone tests Tartberry as frozen yogurt competitor.

Cold Stone Creamery is testing a new product called Tartberry, which is described by the company as a "creamy frozen dessert" rather than a frozen yogurt. But the name suggest the product is being positioned as a competitor to the popular new wave frozen yogurts such as Pinkberry and the product is also described as being "tart n' tangy," like the new frozen yogurts. In addition, it is fat free and low in calories, again like the new wave of frozen yogurts that have revitalized a frozen dessert category that had been heading steadily downhill over the past decade.

The Cold Stone test is taking place in fourteen of the company's shops in Southern California. The shops are located in Glendale, Carlsbad, Hermosa Beach, Chula Vista, Pasadena, Simi Valley, West Hills, San Diego, Lomita, La Jolla and North Hills, with three others in Mission Viejo in Orange County, where a great following has developed for the new wave of "real" frozen yogurt, characterized by their tart flavor. The warm consumer response to the product has prompted fierce competition among new wave frozen yogurt chains like Pinkberry, Yogurberry, Cefiore, Cherry on Top, and Red Mango.

The Cold Stone test is reported to have begun in November. The product is offered in plain and berry flavors. A 4-ounce cup of the soft serve frozen dessert contains 100 calories and zero grams of fat. Local press reports that the company claims no plans for rolling out the product on a national level.

Despite that statement, Cold Stone may, in time, roll out its Tartberry and possibly even replace it with a real frozen yogurt if the current craze for tart frozen yogurt proves to be more than a fad. The last time frozen yogurt became the hot product among frozen desserts, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, most of the ice cream chains were forced to add the product to their menus. Even the National Ice Cream Retailers Association changed its name to the National Ice Cream and Yogurt Retailers Association.

It did not take long, however, before the frozen yogurt chains were adding ice cream to their menus in order to compete with the broadened menus of the ice cream chains. And the launch of improved low fat, fat free, and low calorie ice creams undercut a major part of frozen yogurt's appeal.

Many of the frozen yogurt chains of that period, that had expanded as rapidly as the new chains are doing today, went out of business. And the National Ice Cream Retailers Association officially dropped yogurt from its name.