Fro-yo Girl Speaks 15th Blogiversary, October 20

 

Fro-yo girl here. Fro-yo Girl Speaks turns fifteen today. The blogiversary is the time of year that I reflect on the previous year.

I noticed that froyo shop grand openings, if they occur at all, have been toned down. I’ve been to one official froyo shop grand opening this year, Yogurtland in East Pasadena. The froyo was discounted that day ($0.30/oz), but a few years ago they would have had free froyo during the grand opening.

Several shops changed hands or reopened after remodeling, including Menchie’s in Burbank (closed for remodeling), The Yogurt Shoppe (which took over the Menchie’s location in Santa Monica, Golden Spoon (which took over the Menchie’s location in Newport Beach), and Pinkberry in Beverly Hills (under new ownership).

Froyo vending machines continue to be installed. The iCream showroom in Los Angeles has multiple froyo vending machines, as well as acai and gelato vending machines.

The roster of new froyo products sold in supermarkets this year includes Jolly Llama Half-Dipped Yogurt Bars, Enlightened Greek Yogurt pints, Enlightened Greek Yogurt bars, Gelatys yogurt gelato bars, Cremily French Frozen Yogurt pints, and Cremily French Frozen Yogurt bars. Noosa also released new frozen yoghurt gelato flavors. The theme of most of these new products is lower sugar and being Keto friendly.

This year I also saw a greater number of new froyo spoon designs, stickers, and limited edition cup designs. Prices continue to inch upwards, approaching nearly $0.70 cents an ounce in the Los Angeles area.

I finally tried fried thick yogurt cubes at L2 Tea Club in San Gabriel. The fried yogurt cubes trend started in China and is slowly spreading to other countries like the US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.

I spotted froyo at some fancier restaurants too. Checker Hall in Highland Park added Greek froyo for the summer menu. Kato, a Michelin star restaurant at The Row in downtown LA that specializes in Taiwanese cuisine, has been serving froyo as part of the tasting menu for years. Froyo isn’t always on the menu, 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.