Here at Ice Moon Prison, we have a habit of becoming fond of foods available only in other parts of the world. When we visited eastern Canada, for instance, we were introduced to poutine and Montréal smoked meat. When we visited Iceland, we were introduced to skyr. Skyr, a kind of thick yoghurt, proved impossible to get in Australia, until late 2017 when three different brands materialized at once. We purchased all three and reviewed them side by side.
Updated June 2019: Procal Dairies Skyr and nudie Icelandic yoghurt are no longer available. A new skyr from siggi’s is now available.
Procal Dairies Icelandic Skyr
Melbourne-based Procal Dairies was the first to release its version of skyr in September 2017.
Procal skyr is thick and holds its shape. Its texture is smooth and there is a creamy mouthfeel not present in the other two skyrs in this review. This skyr is fairly acidic. Also present is an oddly metallic (but not unpleasant) aftertaste; we cannot recall if authentic Icelandic skyr has this flavour.
Ingredients
Skim milk, Milk solids, Live yoghurt cultures
Nutritional information per 100 g
- Energy 277 kJ
- Protein 11.1 g
- Fat 0.2 g
- Carbohydrate 4.8 g
- Sodium 52 mg
- Calcium 305 mg
Procal Dairies Skyr ceased to be available in 2018.
Nudie Icelandic Yoghurt
Trendy Sydney-based nudie Foods sells Icelandic Yoghurt without calling it skyr. It proudly declares that some of the yoghurt cultures come all the way from Iceland.
Nudie Icelandic Yoghurt holds its shape well. It has a slightly gritty mouthfeel reminiscent of natural European-style yoghurt. It is less acidic than Procal Dairies Skyr and has a pleasant, almost sweet, aftertaste.
Ingredients
Filtered milk, Milk solids, Yoghurt cultures
Nutritional information per 100 g
- Energy 263 kJ
- Protein 11.3 g
- Fat 0.3 g
- Carbohydrate 3.8 g
- Sodium 44 mg
- Calcium 340 mg
Nudie Icelandic Yoghurt ceased to be available in 2018.
Woolworths Icelandic Style Skyr Yoghurt
Not to be left out, Woolworths is selling a store-brand version of skyr.
Woolworths Skyr is much less thick than the other two in this review and doesn’t hold its shape as much. It has a smooth mouthfeel but little acidity or aftertaste. We found it to be fairly bland overall and probably couldn’t distinguish it from many Greek-style yoghurts already on the market. The nutritional information is generally lower in most categories which suggests that this skyr has a higher water content than the other two and perhaps hasn’t been strained as thoroughly.
Ingredients
Pasteurised skim milk, Skimmed milk solids, Lactic starter culture
Nutritional information per 100 g
- Energy 254 kJ
- Protein 9.6 g
- Fat < 0.5 g
- Carbohydrate 4.9 g (of which sugars 2.9 g)
- Sodium 37 mg
- Calcium 134 mg
Woolworths Skyr is available in 700 g tubs and is (obviously) only available in Woolworths supermarkets.
Siggi’s Icelandic Style Skyr
In 2019 American company siggi’s expanded into Australia, with products apparently identical to the ones offered in the US, but manufactured in Tasmania from local ingredients. Siggi Hilmarsson created the company in 2004 when he left Iceland and couldn’t find a suitable substitute in America.
This skyr has a smooth mouthfeel reminiscent of a creamy Greek yoghurt, despite its almost nonexistent fat content. It holds its shape remarkably well and leaches very little water.
The plain version of this skyr has a powerful acidic bite. We are reminded of the skyr we tasted in Iceland (and other parts of Europe that it has spread to). Eaten by itself, this skyr is quite rich; a 150-gram tub goes a long way.
Ingredients
Skim milk, Milk solids, Live yoghurt cultures
Nutritional information per 100 g
- Energy 265 kJ
- Protein 10.1 g
- Fat 0.3 g
- Carbohydrate 4.8 g (of which sugars 3.5 g)
- Sodium 44 mg
- Calcium 303 mg
Siggi’s skyr is available in 150 g tubs from Woolworths supermarkets and comes in several flavoured varieties as well as plain.
Conclusion
The warden and two inmates of Ice Moon Prison tried all three in a non-blind taste test. None of us preferred the Woolworths Skyr; we all thought it was fairly flavourless. Opinion was split between the Procal and nudie products, primarily on the strength of flavour. We concluded that the Procal skyr is the boldest of the three and most likely to be an acquired taste. The nudie Icelandic Yoghurt is likely to appeal the most to casual plain yoghurt eaters.
UPDATE: With the release of siggi’s skyr, the bar has risen significantly. While neither the Procal nor nudie products are available any more, they weren’t a patch on siggi’s. We can only hope that this time, the current leader stays around after the skyr fad passes.
11 responses to “The Great Australian Skyr-off”
Materialised, not materialized. This is Australia not the us. Thanks for the review I have been looking for this in Australia.
We’ve noticed that the Procal Dairies skyr has vanished from shelves in Coles since about January 2018. This is an unfortunate development.
(Ice Moon Prison uses British spelling, which permits both -ize and -ise endings. We agree that this is not the US.)
Had the extreme displeasure of trying the Nudie Icelandic yoghurt the other day and it was like eating liquidised chalk. With very little information on the packaging to inform what it should be like we assumed the product to be defective, spoiled or simply not for us. After gagging on a mouthful each the rest went into the bin. Packaging needs improvement to explain the concept better, it may well have been improved with copious amounts honey or agave, although that wouldn’t have helped the texture.
After initially being excited that Skyr had finally made it to Australian shores, after trying it for the first time in 2008, I bought the Woolworths and nudie ones, went home feeling excited and decided to have a taste. Both of them went to the bin after a few mouthfuls and left me severely disappointed. I am currently in Iceland, and have been merrily eating real isey Skyr, in its myriad of flavours for the past week. It tastes way better than the Australian imitations. So far we have eaten these flavours this week:
Apple, pear, creme brulee, blueberry, strawberry, mixed berry, pineapple and mango, coconut, vanilla, banana, chocolate and another strawberry type that looked different but we couldn’t determine what it was. Maybe strawberry and honey. I am just hoping they bring the real stuff to Australia instead of tarnishing Iceland skyr’s reputation with a truly inferior generic product.
Yes I concur! Icelandic skyr way different to the nudie brand I purchased the other day. Would love a way for real icelandic skyr to make it to Australia.
Been searching for a low fat low sugar yoghurt to replace those deleted by Margaret River Dairy Co in WA – tried Chobani’s 0.5% fat yoghurt, now that really does taste like chalk solution or something. Just tonight tried the Woolies Skyr and that is way different and very promising. Thanks for these reviews, we will probably try the nudie as well just for comparison. Overall though, amazed by how many people still want yoghurt loaded with fat and sugar. You just need to let your body and taste buds become accustomed to reducing those components; and if you must have it with something sweet, try it with fresh fruit as we do.
In your nutritional information per 100gm you left off sugar! The first and most critical thing for me when I look/compare products in the aisle and when I pick up a new product is sugar. (and sodium) Otherwise a good review ;)
I love the Woolies version, less chalky but there is a new brand as well, Siggi’s, a company started in the UD by and Icelandic expat but now made in Australia as well. Comes in 0 fat and 4% fat varieties.
A big thanks to Renee for bringing the siggi’s brand to our attention. We’d given up looking.
Stew: We updated the nutritional information of the two varieties still available to include sugar. Sincere thanks for the feedback!
I finally tried the woolworths version and loved it the most of all the above. However they have just stopped stocking it in my area. I like siggis but you can only get single serve tubs. After tasting and trying all the varieties of aussie skyr on offer i moved away from chobanis completely. So glad to jave found this page and post !
New skyr! In New South Wales, Marrickville producer Evia is now selling a skyr. It seems to be available only in NSW for now.