Branford dining hall tangoes with new mango sorbet
After Branford’s soft serve was replaced with pomegranate raspberry and chocolate due to supply chain issues, Yale Hospitality has rotated the previous fruit sorbet with a new mango flavor.
Liza Kaufman, Staff Photographer
Yale Hospitality is serving up sunshine with a scoop of its newest treat — “mango sunshine” — in Branford dining hall.
The new flavor replaces the “pomegranate raspberry” sorbet that first appeared in the Branford dining hall alongside a “chocolate fudge” flavor around early February. The shift to sorbet followed supply chain issues with the Chocolate and Vanilla Oatly Ice Cream — an oat milk-based soft-serve option — previously offered in Branford and Saybrook dining halls.
“It’s delectable. It’s fun and it’s fresh and it’s the first taste of spring. It’s been so gray out, and this feels like personified sunshine,” said Sasha Fedderly ’27. “It’s 1,000 percent changed my mood. I’m a brighter, happier person because of this sorbet.”
The News independently verified the brand of the sorbet as Dannon’s Dairy Free YoCream “Mango Sunrise” sorbet upon inspection during a machine refill. The company is based in Portland, Oregon.
Dannon’s website describes their selection of sorbet flavors such as Green Apple, Key Lime, Kiwi Strawberry, Passion Orange Guava, Watermelon and Strawberry Lemonade. Dannon shares that their sorbet is vegan, Kosher certified, free of artificial colors and flavors, dairy, cholesterol and gluten. One serving of the sorbet includes fewer than 100 calories.
Fedderly plans to eat at Branford dining hall more frequently following the sorbet flavor’s addition. Nneka Moweta ’27 echoed these remarks. She told the News that she had already indulged in two servings of the sorbet.
Students are able to enjoy the two flavors individually, or as a combined “swirl.” Joseph Kayne ’27 noted that he preferred the sorbet to the Oatly soft-serve. He emphasized that although the chocolate fudge did not “work” as a sorbet flavor, the mango sorbet did.
“This is it. They found the sweet spot. It’s delicious,” said Kayne. “Branford was already the best dining hall, but now they added this. It’s even better.”
Camille Chiu ’26 described similar feelings regarding the mango and chocolate fudge flavors.
“I like it. It’s very creamy and sweet. I feel like sometimes ice cream flavors can be very superficial, like the strawberry one, but the mango is good,” said Chiu. “Chocolate is chocolate, but mango is kind of special.”
India is the world’s largest producer of mangoes.