Houston-Made Cashew-Based Yogurt Takes Off
Mithra Narasimhan went vegan in 2015, but she still “really, really liked yogurt.” What initially sounds like an impasse resulted in quite a delicious asset for those living dairy-free in Houston.
A year and a half ago, Narasimhan launched Acajú Yogurt, a Sugar Land-based vegan venture featuring both fruit-on-the-bottom-style and lassi-style drinkable yogurts. Available at Nourish Juice Bar, EQ Heights, and Boomtown Coffee, as well as via online delivery (which deployed earlier this year), Acajú satisfies cravings for customers desiring a thick, decadent concoction for breakfast, snack time or dessert.
"I wanted to create something that was really creamy, something that was really thick, and something that was very mildly sweet," Narasimhan says. "I experimented with all the different nuts—like peanuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios." She tried oats and soy, too, and what resulted: a cashew- and oat-blend yogurt that strikes the right textural and taste notes.
Available flavors include mango cardamom, blueberry muffin, apple pie, raspberry chocolate, carrot cake, piña colada, and plain. The drinkable yogurts come in mango cardamom and strawberry peach flavors and contain no added sugars.
Acajú’s entire yogurt line can be enjoyed as is, with the fruits stirred up from the bottom, but Narasimhan urges customers to play with new texture and flavor combinations. She prefers adding a topper of lightly sweet granola, and notes that many fans enjoy using the almost custardy plain yogurt as a canvas for their own unique experiments, such as lemongrass and agave.
“There are a lot of creative things you can do with Acajú,” she says.
To craft her dreamy delights, she starts off by purchasing everything she needs in bulk. She also makes sure to pick up local seasonal fruits whenever possible. Everything is cooked in a commercial kitchen, and when she's finished making the yogurt, she delivers it to Houston homes and offices every weekend. Currently she fulfills about 20 to 25 orders per week.
Narasimhan sometimes sells Acajú at vegan markets in the Austin area, and she hopes to expand into retailers there.
Further out, she wants to develop beverages with no added sugars to highlight the natural sweetness of the fruit.
For vegans, the lactose intolerant, and others who need (or simply want) to boot dairy from their diet, their yogurt options often fall short. But for some, Acajú may become a heartfelt alternative full of equal parts creamy sweetness and passion.
