Acidophilus Alert! Pinkberry vs. Kiwiberri
I was puzzled recently when driving by fave cheap noodle joint Mishima, at La Cienega and 3rd in LA, to see a sign that read "Coming Soon: Kiwiberri". The resemblance to chain Pinkberry's name was not unnoticed. I had to assume that Kiwiberri was some sort of knock-off. And my suspicions were confirmed when I did a little research on the web this morning.
However, after seeing the impressive list of planned Kiwiberri franchises (see left) compared to Pinkberry's three or four, in addition to becoming impatient at the languid pace of Pinkberry's supposed bird-flu like spread around Los Angeles (none of their under-construction locations has yet to open), I have begun to wonder...is Kiwiberri the original, and Pinkberry the counterfeit? Or the other way around? If anybody holds the key to this riddle, please let me know.
Not that I really care about anything except for the splendid proliferation of 'yogurt that tastes like yogurt'. This trend seems to be catching on (or should I say, this thing appears to be on the brink of becoming a trend), and hopefully copyright infringement, patent or other potential lawsuits between the two too-similarly named outlets won't be the death of a product that should finally have its day in the sun. That is, if either company ever gets its act together and opens their doors to the yogurt-starved public.
posted by The Dabbler | 7/24/2006
5 Comments:
When oh when will we bet pinkberry, kiwiberri, or really any kind of berry/i selling yogurt shop here in NY? We just got jamba juice just in the last two years, though really, I find it is not all it was cracked up to be.
So I did a little research and spoke with the owner of Kiwiberri (which opened this May in Claremont...suspiciously after Pinkberry had been in business for more than a year). When I asked him if it bothered him that the names of the two ventures were so similar, he said no. My conclusion? Pinkberry is clearly the original and Kiwi-berri the knock-off. If it were my business, I would be superpissed that somebody ripped off both my product AND my name, to create obvious confusion, so the fact that he was unphased seemed a dead giveaway.
New Yorkers, I wish I could state otherwise but since the west coast openings of PB and KB are moving at a glacial pace, I estimate that the yogurt stores will reach you by 2010 at the earliest (at which point, the Greenland ice shelf may have submerged Manhattan anyhow).
Thanks for the upbeat prediction, Dabbler. Maybe if an ice floe reaches us we can make slushies instead. Then we can come live with you at your beachfront property.
More yogurt-that-tastes-like-yogurt is always a good thing! As far as the who came first controversy, Pinkberry definitely came first, but Kiwiberri accuses Pinkberry of stealing their recipe and getting to market first. Who knows. All I know is that the comments people leave on all my Pinkberry posts come from people who are tied to Kiwiberri in some way. It's entertaining... like a fight people would have in high school, or something.
Thanks for the link!
i know which came first...but it's like the "chicken or the egg" riddle. neither of them did. in the small country of South Korea there are tons of yogurt shops like pink/kiwi and the one with most recognition would probably goto red mango. the original. i wouldn't be surprised if they came to the states. also, in koreatown, you can find mini cafe's that sell yogurts which are similar (even taste better) but will lose in the "healthy" department. overall, i don't care which came first because they taste the same. leave that up to the owners. most of the consumers aren't bias about either side.
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