Haitai Sand Ace Yogurt Biscuit Review

Fro-yo girl here. Haitai has been busy. They created Haitai Oh Yes Yogurt Cake (like Choco Pie, chocolate coated white cake with a yogurt cream filling) and Haitai Sand Ace Yogurt Biscuits. In the UK, cookies are called biscuits. I guess that’s true in Korea too. I’m going to call them cookies.

Sand Ace Yogurt Biscuits come in a pretty blue and white box. There are 12 packages in the box with 2 cookies per package. Two cookies are 85 calories. The cookies are small and square. The cookie part reminds me a bit of Ritz crackers; they are golden, crispy and not very sweet. They’re slightly salty like a Ritz cracker. The cookies are held together by a creamy filling that tastes like sweet slightly vanilla flavored cream or the filling of an Oreo cookie. I didn’t taste yogurt but still really liked the cookie.

A box of Sand Ace Yogurt Biscuits was $2.99 at Lotte Market. The cookies are made in Korea.

You can purchase the cookies online at: http://kpoptown.com/food/35644-haitai-sand-ace-yogurt-cream-204g.html

Ingredients: Wheat flour, soybean, glucose, coral shortening, sugar, mixed oil, lactose, cream powder, milk powder, skim milk powder, refined salt, prozyme500, lecithin, ammonium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, milk flavor, vanilla flavor, cream flavor, vitamin B1, vitamin B2.

4.5 out of 5 stars

* LOTTE MARKET: 2135 Foothill Blvd., La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Magpies Softserve Opens in Silver Lake

Fro-yo girl here. Silver Lake’s newest dessert shop, Magpies Softserve started swirling yesterday. When I heard the call for free swirls, I decided to check it out. They don’t have any frozen yogurt but they do have Taylor machines swirling up 7 flavors of artisanal soft serve a day and housemade toppings. The flavors sound fun and interesting; they include yuzu honey, strawberry rhubarb, sweet cream, sweet corn and honey and Cuban espresso. There are non-dairy options.

Unlike most soft serve spots, Magpies makes their own soft serve without mixes or powders. Toppings include housemade sauces, chocolate honeycomb, maple coconut chips, almond brittle and more.

They’re new so the menu hasn’t been completely finalized but they plan on having cold brew coffee, coffee floats and ice cream cakes.

Prices: Junior $3.95, Regular $4.95, from scratch toppings 95 cents

The shop is small and located in a strip mall across the street from Gelson’s. I’m not sure if the décor is all in place yet but looks like it’s going to be minimal. The cups were clear plastic ones with stickers

I think they were too busy to hand out samples on opening day, so I was only able to try one flavor. The yuzu honey soft serve tasted like plain soft serve with a hint of yuzu. I was hoping for more yuzu flavor. The soft serve was creamy and smooth but on the bland side. The toppings were fantastic though. Try the butterscotch rice krispies for a crispy, chewy, buttery treat.

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

* MAGPIES SOFTSERVE: 2660 Griffith Park Blvd., Los Angeles (Silver Lake), CA 90039

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

365 by Whole Foods Review

Fro-yo girl here. The first smaller, more affordable 365 by Whole Foods (the new concept store from Whole Foods) opened in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles at the end of May. 365 replaces Ralph’s. There’s less variety at 365 compared to Whole Foods and the interior looks like a warehouse with huge floor freezers and some high tech touches such as kiosks to order made to order tacos, bowls, pizzas and brewed tea. The food court that one typically finds at Whole Foods is gone but there is an Allegro coffee kiosk, an in-store, casual, counter-serve vegan restaurant called by Chloe and a dining area. There are no butchers or bakers on site and the flowers are limited to a small selection of bouquets (with no floral department staff). It felt like there was a lot more security personnel.

Prices are lower than Whole Foods. 365 still has ample organic produce, the hot bar/salad bar where items are priced by container size rather than weight (it reminds me of how some self-serve froyo shops have adopted weightless pricing, charging by cup size rather than weight) and grab and go baked goods and prepared foods.

I went to check out the yogurt and frozen yogurt selection. First, the selection is smaller than the typical Whole Foods in the area. For frozen yogurt the only product they had was the 365 Greek yogurt popsicles. They didn’t have Julie’s Organic frozen yogurt, Yasso bars, Lifeway frozen kefir, etc. They did have a lot of ice cream and gelato though. Also, a smaller selection doesn’t mean a different selection. The yogurt selection was pretty good (Fage, Siggi’s, Whole Foods) but they didn’t carry Smari, Tarte, Blue Hill or Stonyfield’s Oh My Yog like the typical Whole Foods.

They’ve attracted a younger clientele but I didn’t see many of them using the high tech features. I did enjoy the food at by Chloe. Her face looked familiar…I’ve seen her on Cupcake Wars. I need to try her Cupcake Wars winning vegan cupcakes.

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

* 365 BY WHOLE FOODS: 2520 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles (Silver Lake), CA 90039

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Haitai Oh Yes Korean Yogurt Cake Review

Fro-yo girl here. A few months ago I stumbled upon Crown Ice Heim frozen yogurt cookies at Hmart in LA’s Koreatown and they were really good. I had high hopes for Oh Yes Yogurt Cake since it looks like Choco Pie (yum Choco Pie). The cakes are made in Korea. I found them at Good Fortune Supermarket for $3.49 a box.

Oh Yes Yogurt Cake comes in a nice light blue box. Each box contains 12 individually wrapped snack cakes. The text on the box is mostly Korean but it says (in English): “Chocolate coated cake since 1984. You know that sweet things make smile. We love to see you smile with your people. So just taste this cake.” Cute – who writes their copy?

The cake is a 1.5 inch square. The thin soft chocolate coating reminds me of the chocolate coating on mini donuts. The white cake is light and there’s a thin layer of creamy filling in the middle that tastes a bit like Yakult or children’s chewable vitamins. The cake would probably taste better without the yogurt flavor but it’s still good because the Yakult flavor is faint and so it tastes like Choco Pie or chocolate mini donuts. It would go well with tea.

One cake is 130 calories with 7g of total fat.

Ingredients: Wheat flour, chocolate, yogurt cream, egg white, white sugar, refined water, corn syrup, shortening, hydrogenated vegetable oil, glucose, margarine, sorbitol, palm oil, baking powder, ester, cream cheese, salt, cream cheese flavor, guar gum.

4 out of 5 stars

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

* GOOD FORTUNE SUPERMARKET: 935 W Duarte Rd., Monrovia, CA 91016

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Father’s Day 2016 Froyo Specials

Fro-yo girl here. Dads love froyo and they deserve some on their special day. Here’s the list of places with Father’s Day froyo specials, in alphabetical order. Unless noted, all these specials are good on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19, 2016.

• Awesome Yogurt: Buy your cup and get dad's cup free
• BTO Frozen Yogurt: 2 ounces free for fathers
• CherryBerry Halifax: 50% off for dads
• CherryBerry Peoria: Buy yours, get dad's 50% off
• Chill Yogurt Cafe (Columbus): Get up to 8 ozs free for dads
• Chillbox USA (NJ & CA): free froyo for fathers Fri. & Sat. in NJ, Sat. & Sun. in San Diego
• Frogurt: Buy yours, get dad's cup 50% off
• Froyoland: 30% off
• Froyoworld: 25% off for dads
• Let's Spoon: Buy your cup, dad gets 8 ounces free
• Lovin' Spoons: 6 ounces free for fathers
• Menchie's Mason, OH: Up to $5 in free froyo for fathers
• Mochi Frozen Yogurt: 8 ounces free for fathers
• Mojo Yogurt: 50% off for dads
• Orange Leaf Canton: free waffle cone for fathers
• Orange Leaf Brockton: 50% off for fathers
• Orange Leaf Crescent Springs: Dads get 50% off when present with a child
• Orange Leaf Macomb: 50% off dad's cup
• Orange Leaf Mustang: 50% off froyo or Swizzles tomorrow for fathers
• Orange Leaf Saugus: Buy one, get dad's 50% off (equal or lesser value), mention Twitter post
• Qoola: Buy one, get dad's free before 2 PM (excluding Richmond, UBC Trek & Yorklawn locations)
• Rchyees: Buy one, get 50% off dad's cup (equal or lesser value)
• Red Mango Maine Mall: free froyo for fathers
• Suzy’s Swirl: free froyo for fathers from 11 AM – 7 PM
• Sweet Cece's Henderson: Free froyo for fathers
• Sweet Dawgs: Mention Twitter post and get 50% off dad's froyo
• sweetFrog Danville: 50% off for fathers
• sweetFrog Lancaster: all fathers with child customers receive 12 ozs free
• sweetFrog Pigeon Forge: Buy one, get dad's 50% off, mention Twitter
• sweetFrog Statesville: Free 12 oz cup fro dad with paying child or other family member
• sweetFrog South Bend: free small cup for fathers with paying child or family member
• Sweet Mimi’z (Suamico, WI): 25% off for fathers
• TCBY: 6 ounces free for fathers
• Tutti Frutti Cinco Ranch: Buy your froyo, get a free cup of yogurt for dad
• Tutti Frutti Calgary: Buy your froyo, get dad's 50% off
• YoFresh Hellertown: 20% off for fathers
• YoFresh Chillicothe: Dads who mention Twitter post to get 50% off 
• Yogo Factory Woodbury Heights: Dads get 50% off, mention Twitter
• Yogo Passion: Buy your cup, get dad's free (equal or lesser value)
• Yogurt in Love (San Marcos, TX): 8 ozs free for dads
• Yogurt Shoppe: Free froyo for dads
• Yogurtland La Brea, Burbank, Ladera Heights: Buy one, get one 50% off for dad
• Yogurtland Lafayette, LSU, Uptown, Baton Rouge: Buy one, get dad's free
• Yogurtology: Buy a $25 gift card, get a free $5 bonus card
• Yogurtopia: Buy one, get one free for dad
• Zinga Gainesville: Buy one, get one free for dad (equal or lesser value)
• Zoyo Frozen Yogurt: 6 ounces free for fathers

Happy Father’s Day to all froyo loving dads!

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Future Froyo Shop Pictures: Pinkberry Anaheim

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been awhile since a new Pinkberry opened in California, so I was surprised to see Pinkberry listed as a future tenant of the ARTIC transportation hub in Anaheim. ARTIC stands for the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center and it’s a hub for OCTA, Metrolink, Amtrak, Anaheim Resort Transportation, Megabus, Greyhouse and other transportation providers. ARTIC is close to the Honda Center, home of the Ducks, and Anaheim Stadium, home of the Angels.

The building is new (it opened in December 2014) and has wi-fi, charging stations, FREE parking (for now), and more. The plan was to add retailers and dining now but that’s been progressing slowly. To date they’ve added a convenience store/mini mart and a Mexican kiosk but the restaurants haven’t opened.

Pinkberry will be sharing their kiosk with pretzelmaker, Auntie Anne’s on the ground level. I thought Auntie Anne’s had a partnership with Red Mango. I guess Wetzel’s Pretzels wasn’t available. The kiosk had hoped to open in April of this year. According to an ARTIC employee, they haven’t started constructing the coffee kiosk or Pinkberry. I walked around and didn’t see any signs that Pinkberry would be there. Fingers crossed that they’ll eventually open.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Maia Greek Yogurt Review

Fro-yo girl here. I spotted the Maia Greek Yogurt line at Gelson’s. The packaging says it’s naturally low sugar with only 4g added natural cane sugar. It sounded appealing since so many yogurts are quite sweet. The fact that it was non-GMO verified, 100% natural, gluten-free, kosher and made with grass-fed milk also appealed. It’s targeted at health conscious moms. 

Gelson’s had four flavors: plain, vanilla bean, strawberry and blueberry. The full line also has pomegranate cherry, peach, raspberry lime, and pineapple flavors.

A cup of Maia retailed for $1.89. One serving is 6 ounces. The vanilla bean yogurt had 110 calories with 10g of sugar, 11g of protein and 14g of total carbs.

Ingredients (vanilla bean): cultured pasteurized non-fat milk, prebiotic oat fiber, cane sugar, vanilla extract, tapioca starch, vanilla beans, live cultures.

* Vanilla bean yogurt: It’s very sour and the texture has a whipped consistency. The texture is oddly sticky, clumpy and grainy. The vanilla extract flavor is strong but not the vanilla bean flavor.

* Blueberry yogurt: The yogurt is white and doesn’t look like it has any blueberries but the blueberries are in there. It’s less sour than the vanilla bean but the texture is strangely sticky/gummy. The blueberry flavor is there but it’s much more sour than usual. I’ve never seen such white colored blueberry yogurt before.

I love yogurt, including yogurt with less sugar, but I had a difficult time eating Maia because it honestly doesn’t taste good. The texture is unpleasant which makes it even worse. It even smells unpleasant. Since it’s Greek yogurt, does it need tapioca starch as a thickener?

2.5 out of 5 stars

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

New June Flavors & Chuck Spoons Arrive at Menchie’s Inspired by The Angry Birds Movie

Fro-yo girl here. The last of the new Angry Birds Menchie’s spoon designs was released today. The new spoon features a yellow bird named Chuck. The limited edition spoons are available while supplies last.

I was finally able to try the two new flavors inspired by the Angry Birds Movie for the month of June: Fresh lime mint sorbet and Strawberry Greek.

Strawberry Greek froyo is Matilda’s favorite. It’s a nonfat frozen yogurt made with real strawberries. It seemed thicker than their other flavors. The texture was nicely dense and creamy. The frozen yogurt is sweet and it tastes like strawberries plus you can taste the yogurt flavor. However, I found that the aftertaste was slightly bitter.

Recommended toppings: Strawberries, cheesecake, condensed milk, graham cracker crumbs

Fresh lime mint sorbet is the Piggies’ favorite. Though I’m usually not a fan of sorbets, I do like lime and mint, especially together. The Fresh lime mint sorbet tastes mostly like lime and I like lime – but where’s the mint?

Recommended toppings: Condensed milk, graham cracker crumbs, mochi

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Yogurtland Gets Saucy with New Craft Purees and Premium Sauces

Fro-yo girl here. If you opened up your Real Rewards app recently or you follow Yogurtland on FB/Twitter/Instagram, you may have noticed that Yogurtland now offers craft purees and premium sauces. Sauces and purees may vary by location but it looks like Yogurtland Pasadena is getting the peach, strawberry and blueberry purees this week, plus condensed milk. The Yogurtland website mentions a raspberry puree.

The new sauce dispenser just arrived at Yogurtland Pasadena (415 S Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA) and the new premium sauces are: Fudge, Chocolate Shell (YES!), Peanut Butter, Salted Caramel and Marshmallow.

I love putting Chocolate Shell on most of the sweet froyo flavors and this dispenser works a lot better than the bottles of Magic Shell that they had awhile back.

In the past I’ve seen apple puree, lemon puree (really liked it), honey, cookie butter sauce (need) and chocolate hazelnut at Yogurtland. There were others…

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Beverly Hills Froyo History & Roundup

Fro-yo girl here. There are frozen yogurt shops all over Southern California but there’s something special about froyo in Beverly Hills. It has something to do with the Beverly Hills mystique. People on the streets of Beverly Hills look different. They wear expensive clothes, drive expensive cars and they’re willing to pay more for quality froyo. 

There are currently four frozen yogurt shops in Beverly Hills: FroyoLife, Go Greek Yogurt, and Pinkberry are in the main downtown area while Toppings Yogurt (349 S. Robertson Blvd.) is closer to Pico-Robertson. Toppings, which opened in 2008, is kosher and self-serve. 

Old school Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt had a Beverly Hills location which closed in 2012. I never made it to that location because I was busy going to my favorite froyo shop, Sno:la, next to the Montage Hotel. Sno:la was different – organic, less sweet (with no white sugar), house flavors like sour cherry (my favorite), fresh mochi, healthy toppings and eco-friendly. It opened in 2007 and closed in 2009. They still have a shop in Kyoto, Japan and also a pop-up in Tokyo.

Pinkberry opened its Beverly Hills location (240 S. Beverly Dr.) in 2007 and it’s still open today, nine years later. The Beverly Hills location is their Innovation Kitchen where they test new products (currently these include organic acai and salted caramel coconut milk).

Blanc Haute was the next upscale froyo shop to open; it opened in 2009 and closed in 2010. Blanc Haute had fancy toppings like figs and truffles. It was a stylish place and I was sad to see that it didn’t last. The space is now occupied by a juice shop (not surprising).

Self-serve froyo finally arrived in downtown Beverly Hills when mini-chain FroyoLife (241 S. Beverly Dr.) opened in 2010. It opened directly across the street from Pinkberry. It was a lower cost option with more flavors. They’re still open today. 

Go Greek (452 N Bedford Dr.) was the first Greek froyo/yogurt shop in Beverly Hills; it opened in 2013 and has expanded to Newport Beach (2 locations) and Canoga Park with a Santa Monica location slated to open this year. It’s higher in quality than your typical self-serve froyo place. The yogurt is flown from Greece and is available non-frozen or as frozen yogurt. Authentic Greek yogurt does taste different and it has a smooth, rich texture. Most people only have access to Greek style yogurt. People in Beverly Hills can enjoy real Greek yogurt – seems fitting.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

New Angry Bird Spoons: Matilda

Fro-yo girl here. It’s a happy day when a new limited edition froyo spoon is scheduled to be released. Some shops will sometimes have new flavors and new spoons out before the scheduled date. I found the Matilda Angry Birds spoons at Menchie’s Alhambra (9 E Main St., Alhambra, CA 91801) a few days before the scheduled release. 

Matilda’s spoon is white. The back of the character is the mirror of the front. She’s a white bird and one of the original Angry Birds.

With Matilda’s release, there’s only one Angry Birds Menchie spoon design left: Chuck (June 12).

The limited edition spoons are available while supplies last.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

National Frozen Yogurt Month: Reflections on the froyo industry

Fro-yo girl here. It’s June which means National Frozen Yogurt Month is back! In fact, National Frozen Yogurt Month is now celebrating its 23rd year. Frozen yogurt is far from new and it’s not a fad either. A fad peaks early and declines very quickly; it is short-lived like the cronut, roti buns or shaved snow/ice. As you can see from Google Trends, interest in frozen yogurt does peak during the summer months but that interest is gradually falling as the frozen yogurt industry has reached the maturity stage of the product category life cycle. The peak occurred in 2012-2013. Note how the cronut has the classic pattern of a fad. It peaked and faded quickly.

Interest in frozen yogurt as measured by search volume remains greatest in the US, followed by Canada, Greece, Denmark, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Consolidation began in the frozen yogurt industry a few years back and it’s continuing today as larger players buy regional and smaller chains and competitors leave the market. In the maturity stage, the industry mostly has larger, well-established competitors. For frozen yogurt, that’s Menchie’s, Yogurtland, Orange Leaf, sweetFrog, Yogen Fruz, etc. Companies can encourage frozen yogurt consumption by targeting new users like the vegan/dairy-free crowd or increasing consumption among current customers through promotions and loyalty programs. It’s also a good time to improve product quality. I’ve noticed that in Australia, many of the frozen yogurt shops are emphasizing the quality of their frozen yogurt.

Frozen yogurt has something going for it that food fads like cronuts, shaved ice and roti buns don’t have. First, it has a health halo thanks to the live and active cultures and lower fat content than ice cream. People can eat frozen yogurt often and not feel guilty about it. Second, frozen yogurt is versatile. It can be a snack or a meal any time of day. Third, frozen yogurt shops are a place to socialize. Frozen yogurt shops are a good place to go for a treat after dinner, on a date or hanging out with friends.

Looking at the future of froyo, I’d like to see:

• a greater emphasis on frozen yogurt quality not quantity
• unique flavors and offerings
• smaller cup sizes for counter serve shops

Shops that survive should offer something unique rather than be just like the frozen yogurt shop down the block. If froyo servings were smaller (e.g., 3-5 ounces), I could have froyo more often, like after dinner or after lunch. Even with the self-serve places I’m tired of HUGE cups.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.