Vancouver, Canada Froyo Update

Killer Ice Cream

Fro-yo girl here. The Metro Vancouver regional district includes multiple cities, villages, municipalities, etc., with a total population of over 2.6 million. Due to the large size of the the area, I’m going to focus on froyo in North Vancouver (population 58,120), Richmond (population 209,937), Vancouver (population 662,248), and West Vancouver (population 44,122).

My last Vancouver froyo report was in 2011. In that post, I mentioned Saporito (it closed in 2011), Footo Delights (it became Footo Croissants and it’s still open), the Milkman, Yogen Fruz, Qoola, and Pinkberry. I had some horrible froyo at Footo Delights. Thankfully, they stopped offering froyo. Of the shops that I mentioned in 2011, The Milkman at the Granville Island Public Market is the only one that is still open, and it still serves froyo blended with real fruit.

Many froyo shops have come and gone since 2011, including multiple locations of Qoola and multiple froyo trucks. Qoola started with one store in the West End of Vancouver, BC in 2008. Pinkberry has one location left in Canada and it’s in Toronto. The closest (to Vancouver) Yogen Fruz is now in Burnaby.

You can still get froyo in Vancouver but there aren’t that many froyo shops left.

The Milkman

Current Places to Get Froyo

• Berry’s Frozen Yogurt, 6685 Royal Ave, West Vancouver, serves mix-in style frozen yogurt blended with fresh fruit.
• IKEA, 320 Jacombs Rd Unit 1, Richmond, serves soft serve froyo and is surely the cheapest place to get your froyo fix.
• Killer Ice Cream, 3659 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, specializes in Australian-style real fruit ice cream. Guests choose a base (vanilla ice cream, froyo, oat ice cream, cashew-coconut ice cream) which is then blended to order with a choice of fruits and fresh herbs. The froyo is made with BC dairy.
• Krave Kulture, 3151 Edgemont Boulevard, North Vancouver, started out making kefir (not frozen kefir) and yogurt from scratch with local milk and live cultures. They later added frozen yogurt, smoothies, sweet and savory yogurt bowls, bagels with housemade yogurt spreads, and more. Their dairy products are made in-house with organic Canadian milk. Krave Kulture will be opening at the Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver in 2025, and they recently started selling their pre-packed froyo pints at Stong’s Market.
• Menchie’s, 412 Davie Street Vancouver, has been open in Yaletown since 2015.
• The Milkman, 1689 Johnston St, Vancouver, offers mix-in fruit froyo inside the Granville Island Public Market.
• TCBY, 1503 Bellevue Ave, West Vancouver, is a counter-serve outpost of the well-known chain
• Timothy’s Frozen Yogurt, 3800 Bayview St, Richmond, is a Canadian classic that opened in 1989 as a small café and gelato shop on the Steveston Pier. In 2024, Timotny’s won the Best Ice Cream in the Best of Richmond.

Possible Places to Get Froyo

• Freshii has locations throughout the Vancouver area, including at the airport. Freshii used to (or still offers?) froyo. The Vancouver International Airport - Level 3 Freshii does not offer froyo.
• Frux, 141-123 Carrie Cates Ct, North Vancouver, is inside the Lonsdale Quay Market. They served organic frozen yogurt, smoothies, Liege waffles, ice cream, and more. At some point they changed their name from Frux Organic Frozen Yogurt to Frux Gelato. In the early days they even served kale frozen yogurt. I’m not sure, but my guess is that they no longer serve froyo.
• I Am Yogost, multiple locations, offered frozen yogurt bark during the summer. Not all locations carried the froyo bark.
• YoYo’s, Scotiabank Theater, 8882 170 Street NW, Vancouver, can be found inside the theatre. YoYo’s claimed to be Canada’s first self-serve froyo. It’s no longer listed on the theater’s website, so it must have closed.

I noticed that there are more places to get tofu pudding in Vancouver than there are places to get froyo. Unfortunately, most of the tofu pudding places are outside of downtown Vancouver. Richmond seems to be the place to go for the best tofu pudding. There’s even a tofu pudding food truck called Talk Soy To Me.

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.

Target Closes Freshii Locations In Southern California

Fro-yo girl here. Freshii opened inside several Los Angeles/Southern California Target locations back in mid-2016. On my last visit to Target in Old Town Pasadena, I noticed that Freshii looked permanently closed. They turned off the flatscreen monitors, removed the snacks, and removed much of the equipment. I asked a Target employee about it and he said that Freshii didn’t do as well as they had hoped, so Target closed all the Freshii locations in the area.

Those locations include:

· Brea

· Culver City

· Irvine (2 locations)

· Pasadena

· Valencia

· West Hollywood

· Woodland Hills

I didn’t call all the locations and verify that the Freshii was closed, but a few of these locations have already been reported as closed on Yelp. I did go to Freshii inside the Target in Pasadena once and I found out that they changed their frozen yogurt. They used to offer plain tart frozen yogurt but they changed to a sweet vanilla frozen yogurt. To be honest, their frozen yogurt has never been good or even average. It also annoyed me that they only offered one size (huge) when I was looking for a snack. The service that I received at Freshii inside Target was poor and the food took forever even though they weren’t busy at all and they didn’t have to cook anything to get my order ready. The Air Canada Freshii deal makes sense for them because people on airplanes don’t have much choice in terms of what they eat (captive audience), so they might even be hungry enough to eat Freshii.

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

* FRESHII at TARGET: 777 Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

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.

Freshii at Target California

Fro-yo girl here. Earlier this month I reported that the Target store of the future test market, which includes remodeling and healthier café concepts, had expanded to California.

Target started testing the new healthier café concepts in October 2015 in Chicago and Minneapolis. Nine Freshii locations opened inside Target.

The new Target pilot program called LA25, involves store enhancements at 25 stores in Los Angeles, including better lighting, mannequins and a department store like feel in the apparel area, more beauty department specialists and healthy fast casual café concepts like Freshii and Which Wich sandwiches.

I’m not sure how many Target locations in Los Angeles have a Freshii inside but the Pasadena location does have Freshii, and so does the one in Brea. The Freshii at Target locations in the Midwest are listed on the Freshii website and I assume they’ll add the California ones soon. https://www.freshii.com/target/

I’ve eaten at Freshii in Chicago and San Francisco but I haven't eaten at one in about 3 years. They offered original tart frozen yogurt back then and every time I had it the texture was suboptimal…the last time I went to one in San Francisco, the yogurt machine wasn’t even working.

This is from my old review of Freshii Chicago (from 2010): "They have fat-free, probiotic fro-yo but it's only one flavor (plain) and one size (large, 12 ounces). The price includes your choice of two toppings (choose from fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, candy, cookies, granola, sunflower seeds, honey and coconut). I don't think they had mochi.

* Plain fro-yo with strawberries and blueberries ($4.99): The fruit was fresh and the fro-yo flavor was decent (sweet aftertaste, very refreshing, icy, soft, a bit lemony/tart) but the texture was horrible. It was already melted when I first received it and turned to soup in a few minutes. They served melted fro-yo. Yuck!!!"

Once they opened in San Francisco I tried the food a few times. It wasn’t good. Those San Francisco locations have closed for good and it wasn’t just because the frozen yogurt wasn’t good. The food was really bland. It’s all cooked ahead of time and they assemble it to order. The sauce or salad dressing adds the flavor.

Now back to the present day, the food seems a little better now at the Freshii inside Target. The portion seems larger with more veggies. Maybe I just ordered something better than before? They have salads, wraps, bowls, burritos, soups, smoothies and juices. The frozen yogurt is different now – they no longer offer plain tart but it’s now a much creamier faintly vanilla flavor from Island Oasis. There’s only one size (still) and it comes with two toppings for $4.99. But if you get something off the kid’s menu, it comes with frozen yogurt plus one topping. I prefer plain tart to what they’re serving now.

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

* FRESHII at TARGET: 777 Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

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.

Target and Freshii Expand Test Market to California

Fro-yo girl here. Frozen yogurt is everywhere, from large cities to small towns it’s a global phenomenon. Frozen kefir, like yogurt, is a cultured milk product, but it's relatively hard to find (though that could soon be changing - read on). Both contain live and active cultures. Kefir has a higher probiotic count and more types of probiotic bacteria though and the consistency tends to be thinner (it’s often sold as a drink). Kefir contains beneficial yeasts that yogurt does not.

Lifeway describes the difference between yogurt and kefir as: “Lifeway Kefir contains 12 live and active probiotic cultures and is fermented for 14-18 hours after pasteurization. This results in more CFU per serving (7-10 billion) compared to most other commercially available cultured dairy products, including yogurt. The probiotic activity is what produces kefir’s signature fizz, which is why we delightfully refer to it as the Champagne of Dairy!”

The few times that I’ve had frozen kefir, it had an icier texture. It was tangy and tasted like frozen yogurt but the texture wasn’t as pleasing. Granted, so few places offer frozen kefir that the machine settings might have been responsible for the iciness but from what I’ve experienced, frozen yogurt is better than frozen kefir – though the taste is similar the texture of frozen yogurt is superior. I’d say that frozen kefir doesn’t taste as good as the best frozen yogurt but it doesn’t taste different enough from yogurt to make a difference to the consumer. However, if the consumer understands and cares that kefir is healthier than yogurt, it might make a difference for a segment of frozen yogurt consumers. Right now it’s difficult to find frozen kefir other than at the supermarket but that could change.

Target and Freshii announced a partnership late last year. Target is rebranding some of its cafes (it's unclear how many will be remodeled and rebranded) with Freshii opening locations in nine test markets in Chicago and Minneapolis. California will be the next test market for Freshii. With 1,700 Target stores with cafes, you could be seeing frozen kefir 
much closer to you. Update: The Freshii inside the Target on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, CA is open but it doesn't have frozen kefir. Froyo is on the menu (though the machine wasn't ready to serve any during my visit).

I spotted a Freshii inside the Old Town Pasadena location and it looks like it's about to open. The soft serve machine was there and frozen kefir was on the menu.

Lifeway’s Starfruit Café serves frozen kefir in the Chicago area. Freshii switched from frozen yogurt to frozen kefir at some locations last summer, including in the Chicago area. Some Argo Tea locations in Chicago offer Lifeway frozen kefir.

Other frozen kefir purveyors outside of Chicago include:

• deKefir: 333 Bay St., Toronto, Canada
• Swirls Frozen Kefir, Unit 195A SM Mall of Asia JW Diokno Blvd., Pasay, Pasay City, Philippines
• Vanilla Jill’s, 298 Blair Blvd., Eugene, OR

Treat Petite was a frozen kefir shop in New York City that closed in 2012.

Lifeway’s frozen kefir products are distributed in the US, Canada, and the UK and can be found using the store locator: http://lifewaykefir.com/where-to-buy/

Babushka produces frozen kefir and is available at markets in Australia: http://babushkaskefir.com.au/find-us/

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.

Fro-yo Chicago Report: Downtown

Fro-yo girl here. I found the best fro-yo in downtown Chicago...but it's not at a fro-yo shop. It's at Graham Elliott's fancy/fun sandwich shop, Grahamwich. They only have one kind of fro-yo, Greek yogurt and it comes with paired toppings: pomegranate seeds, shaved chocolate and chestnuts ($4). Pomegranate season is almost over, so I wonder what new fro-yo/toppings combination they'll come up with next. I hope they keep the Greek fro-yo. I loved how it was sour and not too sweet and actually tasted like yogurt, not ice cream. The texture was smooth and icy (but not watery).

Kingoberry opened up in the Printer's Row area about three months ago, inside Pockets. They serve Love's Yogurt. They will deliver fro-yo to you. The price is very reasonable but they only have two fro-yo flavors.


It was sad to see the shuttered Berry Chill. The sign said it was closed temporarily closed for emergency repairs. I spotted two "coming soon" freshii signs downtown, so I'm guessing that means more fro-yo is on the way.

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

* GRAHAMWICH: 615 N. State St., Chicago, IL
* FRESHII (coming soon): 161 North Clark, 200 W Randolph, Chicago, IL
* KINGOBERRY: 555 S. Dearborn, Chicago, IL
* BERRY CHILL: 635 N. State St., Chicago, IL

Runny Fro-yo is Gross

Fro-yo girl here. The other week I was in Chicago eating fro-yo and I received a melted cup of fro-yo from freshii. The fro-yo was too soft to even hold a swirl. In a few minutes, it had become fro-yo soup. The flavor wasn't bad actually, but the melted texture was plain disgusting. When it comes to fro-yo, texture ranks second only after taste. There's nothing worse than runny, too soft fro-yo. I like smooth, firm fro-yo that doesn't melt right away. Other fro-yo textures that I don't like include:

(1) gritty and or chunky/lumpy fro-yo
(2) airy, fluffy fro-yo
(3) overly icy



I seem to run into better texture at full-service shops (maybe because they have fewer machines to look after?) but there are some self-serve chains that seem to consistently have good fro-yo texture. I'd like to recognize Yogurtland and Menchie's for good quality control.

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