Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of Waitrose Gut Health Mango Kefir Drink. We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition, use and taste of this flavoured kefir. We’ll also compare some health factors against other popular kefir.

This kefir is available in Waitrose supermarkets in the UK.

You might also be interested in reading our article on the best probiotics in the UK if you want to add more healthy microbes to your diet.

About kefir

When most people think of kefir, they’re referring to dairy kefir – a fermented milk drink traditionally made by adding kefir grains (clusters of bacteria and yeast living in natural symbiosis) to milk. The result is a tangy, drinkable dairy product similar to yoghurt but thinner in texture.

Because it’s fermented with a diverse community of microbes, dairy kefir has a distinctive flavour and texture that set it apart from yoghurt. It can be enjoyed on its own or added to cereal, smoothies or dressings. The fermentation process also breaks down much of the milk sugar, giving it a slightly lower lactose content than milk.

There’s also water kefir, made by fermenting a sugar-water solution with water kefir grains – a related but distinct culture from dairy grains. Water kefir is a sparkling, dairy-free drink often flavoured with fruit or herbs. Although it contains different species of bacteria and yeasts, it follows the same natural fermentation process as dairy kefir.

However, many commercial kefirs – both dairy and water – are not made with traditional grains. Instead, they’re produced by inoculating the liquid with a selected mix of bacterial and yeast strains. This simpler method creates a controlled, consistent product and is easier for manufacturers to scale, but it lacks some of the microbial diversity and complexity of true grain-fermented kefir.

Traditional kefir grains contain a shifting community of bacteria and yeasts, so the exact number and combination of strains vary from batch to batch and can’t be stated precisely on a label.

As a general rule, if a kefir is traditionally made it will mention ‘kefir grains’ on the label. And if a kefir states a precise number of strains, this suggests it has been inoculated with a defined starter blend rather than fermented with grains.

So it’s worth paying attention to how your kefir is made - and we’ll explore how this particular kefir is made in this review.

Ingredients of Waitrose kefir

This is not a simple or traditional kefir as it includes quite a few ingredients not in authentic kefir (which would just include milk and cultures / kefir grains).

It contains kefir (milk, starter culture), mango purée (4%), fruit and plant extracts (apple, carob, grape), stabiliser (pectin), flavouring and lemon concentrate.

Most important to note is that it is not made with kefir grains, but rather by inoculating it with a starter culture. This is likely why Waitrose calls it a ‘kefir drink’ and ‘fermented milk drink’ on the label. To be honest, many other brands make kefir in the same way and are just less upfront about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In case you were wondering, pectin is a natural fibre found in fruit, mainly apples and citrus. Brands add it to kefir to keep the texture smooth and stop the drink separating in the bottle. It basically helps the fruit purée stay suspended so you don’t end up with a watery top layer and a thick layer at the bottom.

The extracts are used for natural sweetness, colour and flavour reinforcement.

Lemon concentrate is added to sharpen the flavour and balance the sweetness from the mango and fruit extracts. It gives a cleaner and brighter taste.

In summary, it’s far from a traditional kefir, but it doesn’t contain any very concerning ingredients.

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Benefits of Waitrose kefir

For context, we’ll compare a few key factors against Yeo Valley kefir which is a popular kefir in the UK.

Live cultures

As mentioned, this kefir is made with a starter culture rather than kefir grains. It includes the following live cultures: Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. It’s worth noting that many species you would expect in a traditional kefir are not present such as Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens, Lactobacillus kefiri and Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

In comparison, Yeo Valley kefir contains 14 strains of live cultures - and is also very likely made from a starter culture rather than with kefir grains.

In terms of the actual amount of live cultures present (ie colony forming units), both brands don’t give any specific information on this.

Other health measures

Except in terms of sugar, Waitrose kefir has slightly less favourable key health measures compared to Yeo Valley kefir.

Protein: This kefir has moderate protein levels at 3%. Yeo Valley is higher at 4%.

Sugar: Its sugar content is fairly high for a kefir at 5.1%, which is below Yeo Valley’s level of 5.7%. Surprisingly, even though this product includes various added fruits, it still has less sugar than Yeo Valley (which has no added fruit).

Fat: It also has moderate levels of fat at 2.6%, which is above that of Yeo Valley (1.9%).

Calcium: And it has moderate levels of calcium with 100mg per 100ml, which is below Yeo Valley’s level of 126mg per 100ml.

Appearance

As the picture below shows, it has a standard milky appearance with an orange tinge.

Texture

The texture is quite runny for a kefir and there is no noticeable effervescence.

Flavour

The aroma is just of mango really.

And it tastes just like a mango-y milk/yoghurt drink. The acidity is quite low.

Overall, the flavour is fine (albeit one dimensional) - but it is nothing like a kefir in almost every way - there’s no effervescence and no funky or farmhouse character and the texture is too thin. As Waitrose suggests, it is much more like a flavoured drinking yoghurt.

Use

This kefir would have limited uses. It could be had on its own or added to smoothies.

Given the flavouring and various ingredients, I don’t think it would work well in dressings or marinades.

Cost of Waitrose kefir

We bought a 500ml bottle from Waitrose for £2 - which puts it at about a mid-market price compared to other 500ml bottles.

Summary

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5.

Verdict: Waitrose kefir is not traditionally made with kefir grains and is much more like a drinking yoghurt than a kefir. It also includes various added ingredients.

Pros

the flavour is objectively fine…

Cons

… but the flavour doesn’t have the typical character of kefir
not authentically made with kefir grains
various added ingredients
runny texture
no information on the actual number of live cultures present (ie colony forming unit count)

Now read about the best kefirs in the UK!

Other benefits of kefir