Halloween Spirit Report 2011

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been looking for fro-yo shop Halloween spirit recently. Sadly, fewer fro-yo shops are decorating this year compared to last, though I have seen greater pumpkin fro-yo availability.

And the winner of the Fro-yo Shop Halloween Spirit goes to...Yoppi Yogurt in Redwood City.

I was impressed to see they had special Halloween signs featuring the Yoppi character in a Halloween costume. He looks ready to go trick-or-treating. They also have Frankberry cereal and candy corn for fro-yo toppings. They decorated the shop windows too.

So far I’ve had pumpkin fro-yo at Blush Organic Frozen Yogurt, Yogurtland, Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt, Fraiche Yogurt, Yoppi Yogurt, Jamba Juice, and Nubi Yogurt.

I'm hoping to see more Halloween spirit next year. Happy Halloween!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOPPI YOGURT: 851 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA

Trader Joe’s Mango! Mango! Fruit & Yogurt Gummies Review

Fro-yo girl. Halloween is less than a few days away and I’m going to be enjoying yogurt candy. Trader Joe’s recently introduced Mango Mango fruit & yogurt gummies “soft candies flavored with mango, passionfruit, and yogurt.” A bag of gummies (7.05 ounces) is $1.99.










The candies are big, thick, firm and very chewy, with the expected gummi candy texture. The are mango shaped and the flavor is either mango, mango & yogurt or mango & passionfruit. I like how fruity and chewy they are. The flavor is all natural. The mango flavor is the most pronounced.

The yogurt gummi, flavored with yogurt powder and white in appearance, has the least flavor and it doesn’t taste like yogurt.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Campino Yogurt Candy Review

Fro-yo girl. Halloween is just around the corner and candy is on my mind...yogurt candy. Campino Yogourt Gummies and Yogourt & Fruit hard candies by Storck, are made in Germany and sold in Canada. Both candies are made with real yogurt.

* Yogourt Gummies come in five flavors: Cherry, Peach, Raspberry, Lemon & Strawberry. The bag has all five flavors. The soft, fluffy gummies have a swirl shape (reminiscent of a swirl of fro-yo) and swirl of color, white and the fruit color. The gummies are firm and have a spongy marshmallow like quality. The candies are quite tart and sour and they taste a bit different than the usual gummy candy (somewhat milky/yogurty). They are flavored with fruit juice. Cherry is my favorite flavor. Raspberry doesn’t taste raspberry enough. I find the spongy quality somewhat odd and unappealing. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

* Yogourt & Fruit hard candies come in three flavors: peach, Strawberry and Cherry. Each candy is individually wrapped. The yogurt flavor is stronger/more pronounced than in the Yogourt Gummies. The candy is firm and smooth, like a butterscotch candy, with a swirled color (white & the fruit flavor). I tasted the yogurt flavor first, then the fruit. The hard candies are not as sour or tart as the gummies but have a creamier, smoother, more natural taste. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Bags of Campino are $2.99 (Canadian) at Shoppers Drug Mart. They also have Cadbury Mini Eggs YEAR-ROUND.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Yogurt Espresso at Caffe Pascucci

Fro-yo girl here. Caffe Pascucci has its origins in Italy with over 100 locations around the world in 20 countries. The SF location is their first in the U.S. Yogurt espresso combines their Gold espresso with light, Italian style yogurt. They can also add caramel, fresh fruit and banana syrup.

* Yogurt espresso ($4.50): The yogurt is whipped and airy and tastes like a sweet, tangy whipped cream. It doesn’t pair well with the straight espresso, which is very strong and bitter. It’s served with a spoon. I didn’t appreciate the combination of textures and flavors.


I’ve seen fro-yo and espresso (affogato) but this is the first place I’ve seen a whipped yogurt with espresso.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* CAFFE PASCUCCI: 170 King St. Ste. 109, San Francisco, CA

Happy 3rd Blogiversary

Fro-yo girl here. It’s a special day for Fro-Yo Girl Speaks - the 3rd blogiversary! That means three years of heavy fro-yo consumption and fro-yo obsession. Thank you so much to my readers and supporters, as well as to anyone out there who supports the fro-yo industry.

These are the questions that I’m asked the most often:

* What inspired you to start your blog? I wanted to try every fro-yo shop in the Bay Area. Writing reviews wasn’t enough because I’d learn things that didn’t fit in a review format. Having the blog gives me more freedom to discuss fro-yo industry trends and events.
* Are you ever fro-yoed out? I do experience fluctuations in fro-yo desire but I never let myself have a break from fro-yo. It’s important to me to keep up with fro-yo and that means fro-yo consumption.
* Do you want to own your own fro-yo store? Not at all. It’s so much more fun to see what others are doing fro-yo wise and stay independent and unbiased.
* Do you own a fro-yo machine? No, I do not and I’ve never made fro-yo. Why bother when I can bring home fro-yo from my favorite fro-yo shops?

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Fro-yo Art

Fro-yo girl here. My new fro-yo canvas print just arrived. I uploaded a fro-yo picture that I took on CanvasPop, chose the filter, size and frame and received proofs from a CP designer. Prices start at $30. There are similar photo to canvas print services (e.g., AllPopArt.com, RoyalCanvas.com) that can break the photo into panels, create collages and artsy effects (e.g., Andy Warhol look), etc. Even Walgreens offers this service.

There’s something special about creating something unique from a photo that I took. I’m the only person with this canvas print. It’s so easy and affordable to create fro-yo art now.

I took a picture of pumpkin fro-yo and it's hanging in my bedroom now.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Yoppi Yogurt Redwood City Grand Opening

Fro-yo girl here. I had a cup of free fro-yo (French vanilla & pumpkin pie fro-yo with Frankenberry cereal) at the grand opening celebration of Yoppi Redwood City today. From 12 - 2 PM, you could walk in grab a cup and have as much fro-yo and toppings as you wanted. They also had a sign-up sheet to win t-shirts and gift cards and coupons for 15% off a future purchase. They had the Yoppi t-shirts there and they came in several colors - yellow, olive, pink, blue.








I liked the store's Halloween decorations and Halloween inspired toppings: candy corn and FRANKENBERRY!!!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOPPI YOGURT: 851 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA

Yoppi Redwood City Grand Opening, 10/15

Fro-yo girl here. Yoppi Yogurt is celebrating the opening of their Redwood City location tomorrow. The shop has already opened. Saturday’s festivities include raffles for t-shirts and gift cards, free fro-yo & toppings from 12 - 2 PM.

Oktoberfest will also be tomorrow from 10 AM - 8 PM in Redwood City’s Courthouse Square. Free admission.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOPPI YOGURT: 851 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA

Yogurtland & Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Awareness Month Promotion

Fro-yo girl here. I stopped by Yogurtland to check out their Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotion. The promotion runs till the end of October. I wasn’t sure if there were special spoons and a limited edition fro-yo flavor.

*Spoons: There are no special spoons but Yogurtland associates have been instructed to hand out only pink spoons this month.







* Fro-yo Flavor: There isn’t a new flavor but they are promoting their Fresh Strawberry fro-yo flavor with a special sign. The sign talks about breast cancer and has a scannable QR code that links to a Breast Health Resource Guide.

* Free Sprinkles: After you make your purchase, you can add free white and pink sprinkles. The pink sprinkles are ribbon shaped, in honor of breast cancer awareness.







Thanks to Yogurtland and to other fro-yo shops (e.g., CUPS, Sweetie Peaz, Yagoot, Yogurtini, Yogurtology, TCBY) for helping to promote breast cancer awareness.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Lifeway Frozen Kefir Review

Fro-yo girl here. I kept checking Whole Foods for Lifeway Frozen Kefir and I finally found it...at Rainbow Grocery. Rainbow Grocery carries all four tart and tangy flavors: strawberry, mango, pomegranate and original. Frozen kefir is 90 calories a serving, lowfat, 99% lactose free and full of live and active probiotic cultures.

Rainbow Grocery is currently selling a pint of frozen kefir for $4.25 (regular price: $5.09).






* Original: Not as hard and firm as I expected, pleasing texture, soft, icy but with some creaminess, tangy but not sour, sweet aftertaste, light but more substantial than sorbet, hint of vanilla flavor
* Pomegranate: bright, tangy, fruity, tastes a bit candy like, clean aftertaste, icy but not watery

I’m really loving frozen kefir, the cousin of yogurt. I favor the original flavor.

5 out of 5 stars.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* RAINBOW GROCERY: 1745 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA

Yogurt Popsicles Spotted in Vancouver

Fro-yo girl here. I stumbled on several interesting yogurt items in Canada (items I hadn’t seen in the U.S.), including Hoo yogurt soda ice cream bars. I didn’t try them but will look out for them in the U.S. The blue color seemed scary. The writing on the box looks Chinese.

* T & T Supermarket: 179 Keefer Pl, Vancouver, BC, Canada

New Product at Blush: Mix’n

Fro-yo girl here. October is my favorite month at Blush because their divine organic pumpkin pie fro-yo returns. It’s one of my very favorite fro-yo flavors. I like how theirs isn’t the traditional sweet flavor. It has a tart base but it’s not too tart.
There’s a new way to enjoy their fro-yo; they just introduced Mix’n. You pick your fro-yo flavor (any available flavor) and up to two toppings (any toppings will work) and they mix them together using a machine that looks like a blender stick. Everything is mixed together and served in a white cup.




My mix'n had pumpkin pie fro-yo with Butterfinger pieces...loved the combination.
They also have dipped cones and gourmet cookie cones.

* BLUSH ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT: 1212 Donnelly Ave., Burlingame, CA (other locations in Dublin, Walnut Creek, SF, Milpitas)

Qoola Yogurt + Fruit of Vancouver, BC

Fro-yo girl here. I couldn’t go to Vancouver without checking out Qoola, the fro-yo chain that first opened up in Vancouver three years ago. The original location at 1116 Denman St. just closed for good on Sept. 25th but they plan to relocate. The note they posted says “we will be opening a new & improved store in the area by early next year...we will be opening 4 new locations within the next 2 months: Westshore (Langford) & Government/Yates St. in Victoria (October 2011), Coquitlam Center & Nanaimo (November 2011).”




Qoola currently has four locations, 3 in the Vancouver area (the one in Burnaby is the first self-serve fro-yo shop in the Vancouver area) and 1 in the Philippines.
Luckily, I was able to experience the original location before it closed.











The shop certainly had visual appeal - very clean, almost all white, modern looking. The fresh fruit looked great. I could see that they emphasized freshness and local ingredients. Their yogurt is made with fresh, probiotic, liquid yogurt (not reconstituted powder).
The original location had 4 fro-yo flavors (not self-serve), smoothies, organic waffles, Q*cake, Q*pocket, tea, and coffee. I had expected that most of the fro-yo flavors would be tart, but only one was (original). I thought the cup would be decorated too, but it was plain. The fro-yo was good but didn’t stand out.

Fro-yo prices (Canadian): Mini ($1.99)/ Small ($2.99)/ Medium ($3.99)/ Large ($5.99)

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.