Schultz-backed Pinkberry goes Italian like Starbucks

Schultz-backed Pinkberry goes Italian like Starbucks
LOS ANGELES -- The Pinkberry frozen-yogurt chain has begun market tests of lightly sweetened yogurt shakes it calls Granita at participating Southern California units, a move that echoes a new-product test by Starbucks Coffee.

Although true Sicilian-style granita typically is a granular fruit-flavored ice, Pinkberry's website describes its yogurt-based drink as "liquid Pinkberry on the go"
Selling in $3 and $3.50 sizes, Granita comes in lidded cups with straws, making it more portable than the chain's standard spoon-eaten product. Pinkberry CEO Ron Graves told the Reuters news service that Granita would have appeal "whether you're in your car or walking down the street."

The chain's test begins about two months after Starbucks started selling "Pinkberry flavored," yogurt-based drinks called Sorbetto in more than 300 Southern California coffeehouses. Sorbetto, which parallels Pinkberry's branding by being the Italian word for sorbet, comes in five flavors, including Tangy Citrus and "Pinkberry" Starbucks says the 10-ounce, $2.95 Sorbettos are fat-free and have 250 calories, 53 grams of carbohydrates and 8 grams of protein.
Starbucks chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz's investment firm, Maveron LLC, invested $27.5 million in Pinkberry, whose new CEO, Graves, is a Maveron veteran.
Pinkberry, which recently began franchising, has about 60 branches in California and New York City.