Pinkberry to test drink similar to Starbucks’ SorbettoPinkberry to test drink similar to Starbucks’ Sorbetto

LOS ANGELES The Pinkberry frozen-yogurt chain reportedly will begin market tests this Friday of yogurt drinks it will call Granita at six Southern California units, a move that echoes a new-product test by Starbucks Coffee.

Although true Sicilian-style granita typically is a granular Italian ice that's fruit flavored like sorbet, the Pinkberry drink is described as a more liquefied version of Pinkberry's signature tart yogurt. Selling in two sizes for $3 and $3.50, Granita will come in lidded beverage 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, Italian-inspired drinks called Sorbetto in more than 300 Southern California coffeehouses. Sorbetto, which parallels Pinkberry's nomenclature by being the Italian word for sorbet, comes in five flavors, including Tangy Citrus, Tangy Mango and "Pinkberry."

Starbucks says the 10-ounce, $2.95 Sorbettos are fat-free and have 250 calories, 53 grams of carbohydrate and 8 grams of protein.

Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz's investment firm, Maveron LLC, invested $27.5 million in the Pinkberry chain, whose new CEO, Graves, is a Maveron veteran.

Pinkberry, which recently began franchising, has about 60 branches in California and New York City.