Halloween 2019 Froyo Shop Spirit Winner Announced

Fro-yo girl here. Happy Froyo Halloween! I love seeing Halloween spirit at froyo shops and there’s a lot of it out there, all over the world. For example, Myfroyoland in India is having a pumpkin carving party and has flavors like Count Chocula, Spookberry, Witch’s Brew Sorbet, and Boo-tterscotch.

Each year, I like to recognize one froyo shop (or chain) for showing the most Halloween spirit. After careful consideration, the award for the most Halloween spirit goes to…Menchie’s.

Menchie’s, a multi-year Halloween spirit winner, came out with a new Halloween froyo spoon (Menchie dressed as a vampire), sponsored a Halloween spoon froyo contest, made Monster froyo cakes and had spooky Halloween inspired froyo flavors and flavor signs (Haunted Harvest Pumpkin and Sugar Cookie Spell). Sugar Cookie Spell is a new froyo flavor.

The previous winners were:

2013: Menchie’s

2014: 16 Handles

2015: Wakaberry

2016: Menchie’s

2017: Yogurty’s

2018: Smile Yogurt

Last year’s winner, Smile Yogurt in Hong Kong, creates elaborate froyo parfaits for Halloween and other holidays.

For a list of shops with Halloween specials, check out IFYA’s list: http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/news/2019-halloween-froyo-shop-specials/

For over 1,500 Halloween froyo images, visit IFYA’s Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/froyogirl/halloween-froyo-froyo-shop-decorations/

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 Pinkberry Holiday Flavor, Cranberry Orange Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. Pinkberry just introduced its holiday flavor of 2019, Cranberry Orange (tart) frozen yogurt. Cranberries and oranges do go together, so I had high hopes for the new flavor. It’s available from October 25 until January 5, 2020. Pinkberry recommends pairing Cranberry Orange froyo with fresh orange pieces, dried cranberries and honey granola. I noticed cute table decals to promote the new flavor.

* Cranberry orange froyo: It was tarter than average which I appreciated. The yogurt was a pale pink color. Texture-wise, it was smooth and light. It melted quickly for some reason. I could definitely taste cranberry and only a hint of orange. The cranberry dominated the other flavors. I would have preferred a stronger note of orange. Recommended toppings: fresh orange pieces, almonds, and gummy bears.

It’s been many years since I last had Cranberry Orange froyo. Yogurtland had it back in 2013. I haven’t seen at Yogurtland in years.

Here’s the official press release from Pinkberry:

PINKBERRY INTRODUCES CRANBERRY ORANGE FROZEN YOGURT FLAVOR

This Tart Swirl is Available for a Limited Time Only

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pinkberry® (www.Pinkberry.com) invites you to spend the holidays delighting in our new Cranberry Orange frozen yogurt flavor! This flavor will be available from October 25, 2019 until January 5, 2020.

This refreshing tart swirl will also be featured in a combination topped with cranberries, fresh orange pieces and honey granola to create the perfect holiday treat.

"The refreshing combination of tart cranberries and orange citrus is the perfect break from your typical decadent holiday treats," said Melissa Hubbell, senior director of marketing for Kahala Brands™, parent company of Pinkberry. "The new Cranberry Orange frozen yogurt will definitely make your season feel merry and bright!"

At Pinkberry, guests can customize their sweet citrus flair with a variety of toppings that include fresh, never frozen, fruit that is hand-cut in stores daily, along with premium granolas and nuts, specialty chocolates, and much more. Pinkberry is swirling with possibilities!

Promotional Flavor:

Cranberry Orange frozen yogurt

Promotional Combination:

Cranberry Orange frozen yogurt topped with cranberries, fresh orange pieces and honey granola

About Pinkberry

Pinkberry® launched in Los Angeles, CA in 2005 as the original brand that reinvented frozen yogurt. Today, over a decade later, Pinkberry continues to create great tasting treats with fresh ingredients in an experience comprised of distinctive product, outstanding service and inspirational design. At Pinkberry you can taste the difference of an uncompromising commitment to quality and freshness. Most recently, Pinkberry U.S. was acquired by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Kahala Brands™, one of the fastest growing franchising companies in the world with a portfolio of nearly 29 fast-casual and quick-service restaurant brands with approximately 3000 locations in 35 countries.

For more information about Pinkberry, visit www.Pinkberry.com.

For more information about Kahala Brands, visit www.KahalaBrands.com.

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 Test Flavor at Menchie’s: OREO Fruit Crème

Fro-yo girl here. Menchie’s University in Encino, CA is currently testing a new frozen yogurt flavor, OREO Cookie with Fruit Crème. Did Nabisco make Oreos with fruit crème? They probably did, since there’s a frozen yogurt version now. The fruit crème seems to be a mixture of lemon, lime and cherry flavors. Chocolate cookies with fruit crème don’t sound too appealing.

OREO Cookie with Fruit Crème: It tasted like a mild chocolate frozen yogurt but slightly different because of the hint of fruit flavors. It wasn’t terrible but the fruit flavors were quite faint. Had they been stronger, the froyo might have tasted worse. But it didn’t have much Oreo cookie flavor. The texture was light and creamy.

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

* MENCHIE’S UNIVERSITY: 17245 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91316

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 Shop Owner Survey Closes on Wednesday, October 23

Fro-yo girl here. Time is running out to be part of the Third National (US) Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner Survey. The survey closes at midnight PST on Wednesday, October 23, 2019.

Take the Survey to Find Out How Your Shop Compares

Who should take the survey? The National Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner Survey is open to anyone who owns a business that serves frozen yogurt in the United States. Owners can sign up to receive the survey results while taking the survey. The results will help owners better understand how their shop compares to other shops. This year’s results will be compared to last year’s results.

The survey asks about shop performance, satisfaction with suppliers, operational practices, management, etc. The anonymous survey takes about 7 minutes to complete.

Take the survey now at https://tinyurl.com/3rdfroyoshopsurvey

Non-Shop Owners Can Share the Survey URL to See the Survey Results

Suppliers and others who are interested in the results but do not own a foodservice business that serves frozen yogurt can receive the survey results by sharing the IFYA’s pinned Facebook post (@froyoassociation) about the survey before the survey closes on October 21, 2019. After sharing the post, send the IFYA a private message with your email address.

Most 2018 survey respondents were optimistic about the future of their business, though they were concerned about rising costs, finding and keeping good employees, finding new customers, and the seasonality of frozen yogurt demand. In addition, they were also fairly satisfied with their suppliers, especially their soft serve mix suppliers.

The 2019 survey results should be available next month.

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.

Blogiversary Number 11 for Fro-Yo Girl Speaks

Fro-yo girl here. It’s hard to believe that Fro-Yo Girl Speaks is over 10 years old. Today marks the eleventh anniversary of my very first blog post. Eleven years is a long time and I still love froyo. Here’s a quick overview of what I’ve been up to over the last year.

Pasadena fro-yo update: My favorite Yogurtland location on Lake Ave. in Pasadena changed ownership late last year, raised prices, and went down hill. I’m very sad about it. I miss the owner, Steve, and the employees (the old ones left). Yogurtland Old Town Pasadena closed. I haven’t been going to Yogurtland as often as I did in previous years. On a positive note, 21 Choices just reopened, after moving from De Lacey and Colorado to chose to the new food hall on Union at Fair Oaks.

Progress towards meeting the blog’s original goal: I had to change my old goal of going to every froyo shop in the Bay Area to going to every froyo shop in greater Los Angeles. The rate of new openings has slowed and more froyo shops have closed, so I’m making good progress. I think I’ve been to every froyo shop within a 15-20 mile radius of my residence. I’m moving onto the 20-30 mile range, including Downey, Compton, and Santa Monica

Froyo spoon collection: I was able to sell about half of my extra froyo spoons on eBay. Hope I can sell more spoons in the future.

Soft and grand openings attended this year: So far, I’ve been to the openings of Yoga-urt in Echo Park, Menchie’s Sycamore Hills (Upland, CA), 21 Choices Frozen Yogurt in Old Town Pasadena and Eb & Bean #3 in Portland, Oregon. 

Current froyo obsessions: We're regulars at Yoga-urt in Glendale and Echo Park. So much about Yoga-urt is amazing - the vegan, organic soft serve, those crunchy gluten-free housemade cones, the housemade chocolate sauce. Drool. I still go to Souvla every time I go to SF. And I think about Pita GR's Greek frozen yogurt all the time but Downey isn't close, unfortunately.

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.

Ripple Creamy Yogurt Alternative Review

Fro-yo girl here. I first tried Ripple’s Greek Yogurt Alternative product about 1 ½ years ago. It wasn’t a positive experience. Then the product disappeared from shelves. I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like it.

Recently, I noticed the return of Ripple Yogurt, with new packaging and a new formulation. It’s no longer positioned as a Greek yogurt alternative, but instead is called a Creamy Yogurt Alternative. Of course, their yogurt features Ripple’s proprietary Ripptein pea protein. Interestingly, Ripple admits that they “messed up” their first attempt at yogurt, because of scalability issues.

I found Ripple Creamy Yogurt Alternative at Target for $2.35 each. One cup is the standard yogurt size, 5.3 oz. The product is nut free, soy free, gluten free, lactose free, and vegan.

Available flavors: Original, Blueberry, Peach, Strawberry, Vanilla

* Vanilla Yogurt: The color was light yellow-grey and I could see the tiny vanilla bean specks. It seemed to smell better than I remembered, like vanilla protein powder. The texture was smooth and creamy, but not as thick as Greek yogurt. The flavor was sweet with a little tang and a sweet aftertaste. It tasted like vanilla soy milk with protein powder. Not bad. It’s an improvement.

* Strawberry Yogurt: The greyish light pink color wasn’t appealing but the flavor was better than I expected. The texture was smooth, creamy and a bit thicker than the vanilla yogurt. There were tiny pieces of strawberry and seeds throughout. The strawberry made it a bit tangier than the vanilla yogurt and it wasn’t that sweet. It also had that soy milk meets protein powder taste. It was light on the tongue, with a clean aftertaste.

I recommend stirring the yogurt before consuming it. Doing so makes the texture smoother.

One serving is 160 calories, 6g total fat, 15g sugars, and 6g protein. It has more sugar and less protein compared to the earlier Ripple Greek Yogurt Alternative.

Ingredients (Strawberry Yogurt): Pea protein blend (water, pea protein), water, organic cane sugar, sunflower oil, strawberries, tapioca flour, contains less than 2% of strawberry puree, yeast extract, pectin, locust bean gum, beet juice concentrate for color, natural flavors, live and active cultures.

3.5 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.

Pressed Juicery: New Pumpkin Freeze, New Pumpkin Oat Milk

Fro-yo girl here. I was definitely excited when I heard about Pressed Juicery’s new fall flavor, Pumpkin Freeze. It’s made with just a few ingredients: pumpkin puree, almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and maple syrup. I headed over to Pressed on National Dessert Day to try it. While I found Pumpkin Freeze, the employees said they were having problems with the soft serve machine and the texture. Pumpkin Freeze was either runny or too hard. I tried a runny sample. I did like it because I could taste the pumpkin and the spices. It was clean tasting and not too sweet. However, the texture was off (soft and gritty). Too bad!

While I was there I tried the Pumpkin Oat Milk which has oat milk, maple syrup, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. The pumpkin and the spice flavors were much weaker. It tasted like watery oat milk. Their almond milk drinks are definitely better. 

Update: I was able to get a cup of Pumpkin Freeze at The Americana (Glendale).

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.

Calling All US Froyo Shop Owners, the National Froyo Shop Owner Survey is Now Open

Fro-yo girl here. The Third National Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner Survey, sponsored by the International Frozen Yogurt Association, is now open. 

Who Should Take the Survey

Anyone who owns a frozen yogurt shop or a business that serves frozen yogurt in the US is encouraged to participate. Owners who take the survey will be able to sign up to receive the survey results while taking the survey. The results will help froyo shop owners better understand how their shop compares to other shops. This year’s results will also be compared to last year’s results.

The National Frozen Yogurt Survey for consumers and shop owners is now in its third year. Coupled with the results of the IFYA's National Frozen Yogurt Consumer Survey, the shop owner survey results will be used to better understand the overall frozen yogurt market in the United States.

The anonymous survey takes about 7 minutes to complete and can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3rdfroyoshopsurvey

The survey will remain open from now till October 23, 2019.

How to See the Results

Suppliers and others who are interested in the results but do not own a frozen yogurt store can receive the survey results by sharing IFYA’s pinned Facebook (@froyoassociation) post about the survey, reposting the Instagram post about the survey (@intlfroyoassn) or retweeting the pinned survey tweet (@froyogirl).

Only foodservice business owners who participate in the current National Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner Survey, those who share the survey URL, and IFYA advisory board members will have free access to the full results of the shop owner survey. IFYA members will have free access to a limited set of results.

The survey results should be available in mid-November.

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.

Yasso Greek Frozen Yogurt Bars: New Pecan Pie Bars Review

Fro-yo girl here. Yasso has launched a new fall flavor of Greek frozen yogurt bars, Pecan Pie. The bars come in a box of four 3.5 fl oz bars. I found them at Target for $4.44 a box. Their other seasonal flavor, Pumpkin Cheesecake, is also back. Both are available nationwide for a limited time.

Pecan Pie bars are described as having “cinnamon graham swirls and glazed pecans nestled in the creamy cold goodness of brown butter frozen Greek yogurt.” Each bar has 5g of protein, 130 calories, 4.5g total fat, 14g total sugars, and 19g total carbohydrates.

Pecan Pie Bars: I’m not a huge fan of pecans, but these bars are delicious and perfect for fall. They’re soft and creamy, not too sweet, and with a warm brown butter flavor. There are small bits of glazed pecan throughout and the cinnamon swirls aren’t too strong. It’s balanced and not too sweet. There was little yogurt flavor.

Ingredients: Nonfat milk, Greek yogurt (nonfat milk, cultures), sugar, cinnamon graham swirl [graham cracker crumb (unbleached unenriched wheat flour, whole wheat/graham flour, sugar, palm and palm kernel oil, molasses, honey, salt, sodium bicarbonate), soybean oil, powdered sugar (sugar, corn starch), cinnamon, coconut oil, salt, soy lecithin), brown butter base [tapioca syrup, water, butter (cream, salt), sweetened condensed skim milk (skim milk, cane sugar, vitamin A palmitate), apple extract, natural flavors, corn starch, sugar, sunflower lecithin, salt, molasses], pecans (pecans, sugar, honey, natural flavor, salt), milk protein concentrate, maltodextrin, cream, locust bean gum, guar gum, natural flavor).

4 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.

Yogurtland Artisanal Collection New Flavor: Ube Frozen Yogurt and Pre-packaged Froyo to Go

Fro-yo girl here. A new frozen yogurt flavor, Ube (purple yam), is scheduled to launch today at Yogurtland. Yogurtland describes it as inspired by the Philippines with “sweet, buttery, and nutty flavors.

The vibrant purple color of Ube makes this unique flavor looks so fun and scrumptious!” It’s nonfat, gluten free and has live and active cultures.

I confused Ube with Taro but it’s a different root. The Ube froyo looked was a much brighter, more vibrant shade of purple than the taro froyo. The flavor was sweet and mildly nutty with what seemed like a hint of coconut. The texture was smooth and thick. It tasted natural, I think, but I don’t eat ube, so I’m not an ube expert. Recommended toppings: raspberry puree, raspberries, white chocolate chips, coconut.

I noticed that Yogurtland San Gabriel started selling pre-packaged 16 oz cups for $5. They only had three flavors. If they ever have peanut butter froyo cups, I’m buying some. Oh, peanut butter froyo, I miss you so!

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 Menchie’s Halloween 2019 Spooktacular Spoons

Fro-yo girl here. Thank you, Menchie’s, for your Halloween spirit. I love the new Menchie’s Halloween froyo spoons. Menchie has decided to be a vampire this year, complete with bats, fangs, and a cape. Chip is with him, peeking out of a pumpkin. The spoons are blue and they say Spooktacular.

Don’t forget about the Menchie’s Halloween froyo spoon contest! To enter, take a picture of Menchie’s new Spooktacular Spoon in a froyo mix and post it on Instagram with the tags @mymenchies and #menchiesspoon to enter. The prize is a $100 Menchie’s gift card. The last day to enter is Halloween.

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.

21 Choices Pasadena Reopens After Move

Fro-yo girl here. After enduring a grueling ten-month building renovation in late 2016-April 2017, 21 Choices reopened at its original location in Old Town Pasadena. And then it closed again at the end of last year!!! This time, the closure was accompanied by a move to the new food hall on Union Street. Pasadena froyo eaters, 21 Choices is back open! The soft opening started on Friday, October 4 and it continues this weekend. They were giving out free froyo on Friday night. And they're giving out free froyo (one small per person) today, Saturday, October 5. No mix-ins are available yet, but they'll be ready for mix-ins on Sunday.

The opening flavors are:

• French vanilla
• Belgian chocolate
• Baby Oreo
• Pumpkin spice
• (Non-Dairy) Build Me Up Buttercup
• (Non-Dairy) Strawberry Mango:

The new space is nice. You can’t miss it if you’re driving down Union or Fair Oaks. I spotted two marble slabs for mixing froyo with add-ins, soft serve machines and new vertical batch freezers. Yes, they have a new product called Crunchy Choices. It will feature a yogurt base with larger pieces of cookies, cake, and other add-ins. During my visit they didn’t have the toppings out. I wonder where all the toppings will go.

Soft serve prices: Small $4.25/ Medium $5.25/ Large $6.25

Welcome back, 21 Choices!

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

* 21 CHOICES: 44 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105

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.

Menchie’s October Feature Flavors, Halloween Spoon & Contest

Fro-yo girl here. Boo! Menchie’s is showing plenty of Halloween spirit this month. The October feature flavors are Haunted Harvest Pumpkin, Sugar Cookie Spell, Chocolate Cream Pie frozen yogurt. Harvest Pumpkin is a returning seasonal flavor. Sugar Cookie Spell might be new but I’m not sure, since Menchie’s did have Sugar Cookie frozen yogurt in 2015 during the PAN promotion. Sometimes a returning flavor has a different name. It wasn’t available during my visit. Chocolate Cream Pie is definitely new.

* Chocolate Cream Pie frozen yogurt: Made with no artificial colors or flavors, Menchie’s Chocolate Cream Pie is lowfat and made with real California milk. I’ve never had chocolate cream pie before, so I can’t compare it to the real thing. The chocolate flavor was mild, like milk chocolate. It tasted a little like chocolate cake. There was a bitter aftertaste. The texture was smooth and creamy. I found it bland. 

Update (10/9): It wasn't easy to find Sugar Cookie Spell frozen yogurt but I finally tracked it down. It did taste like sugar cookies and I found it very sweet and one-dimensional. The yogurt was also a touch icy, which didn't help.

I look forward to a new Halloween Menchie’s spoon every Halloween and they didn’t disappoint me this year. The new spoon features Menchie dressed as a vampire with a few bats on the front and Chip coming out of a pumpkin in the back. And there’s a Halloween froyo spoon contest! To enter, take a picture of Menchie’s new Spooktacular Spoon in a froyo mix and post it on Instagram with the tags @mymenchies and #menchiesspoon to enter. The prize is a $100 Menchie’s gift card. The last day to enter is Halloween.

I noticed a door decal for the new Monster Cakes. Those would be perfect for Halloween. The new cup design features Menchie’s froyo cakes. I didn’t see anything about World Smile Day, which Menchie’s has been celebrating for years. It takes place on October 4, 2019.

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.

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt in Huntington Park Has Closed

Fro-yo girl here. I didn’t know that Huntington Park had a downtown area but I found it when I was looking for Tutti Frutti. Downtown is centered around a stretch of Pacific Blvd. It had a few older movie theaters and lots of stores and restaurants. There are some nice older looking buildings. The dominant Latino population, the working class feel, and the buildings give the area the look and feel of Broadway in downtown LA.

Unfortunately, by the time I made it to Tutti Frutti, it had closed permanently. The sign was still there and the space is available for lease. Tutti Frutti opened in 2012. I’m not sure when it closed but it was either this year or last year.

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

* TUTTI FRUTTI FROZEN YOGURT: 6811 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park, CA 90255

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.