Frozen Yogurt FAQs

Fro-yo girl here. I'm wrapping up my coverage of the Frozen Yogurt Conference with some random things I learned at the conference.

It's unclear who first started selling fro-yo in the U.S. but it was probably an equipment manufacturer on the East Coast during the 1970s.

The FDA has not approved of any probiotic health claims for food products.

Gritty fro-yo may be a sign that you need to replace your fro-yo machine blades.

Sugar-free fro-yo is impossible...no sugar added is different. Since fro-yo needs to contain milk and milk has glucose, fro-yo always contains sugar.

Some people think that consumers shy away from green colored fro-yo. It doesn't bother me unless it looks too unnatural.

Most popular fro-yo toppings:
1. Strawberries
2. Reeses peanut butter cups
3. Raspberries
4. Diced almonds
5. Cookie dough pieces
6. Mini gummi bears
7. Oreos
8. Mini M&Ms
9. Cheesecake
10. Heath bar

Mochi was #16...but maybe it's not offered at as many places? Well, mochi is my favorite topping. I liked diced almonds and raspberries. I don't like how the color of the M&Ms comes off and runs into the fro-yo. Ick.

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

Frozen Yogurt Conference Overview

Fro-yo girl here. I've returned from the Frozen Yogurt Conference hosted by YoCream in Portland, Oregon. The host, YoCream, did an amazing job of organizing the conference and taking care of attendees, from the limo service to the free meals. They were incredibly welcoming and kind. Thank you YoCream!





The turnout was impressive...I think around 400 attendees or so from 18 countries. I was excited to see people from fro-yo shops I'd been to or read about. Most of the attendees seemed to already have fro-yo shops but the show was also attended by distributors, aspiring fro-yo shop owners, and others in the fro-yo business. Upon registering, I received a free YoCream logo drawstring bag, program and coupon for YoCream products.

The purpose of the conference was educational and one repeated message was how everyone in fro-yo should be focused on not just their own businesses but on growing the fro-yo industry.

The conference started on Tuesday, Jan. 25, with tours of the YoCream manufacturing plant and company showroom store (the tours were repeated on Wednesday morning). The afternoon was filled with fascinating topics like the History of Frozen Yogurt, marketing tips, what you should know about frozen yogurt machines and more. We were introduced to the YoCream executives including the founder. The keynote speaker was Peter Vidmar, the gymnast and he impressed us with his pommel horse skills and humor.

Wednesday was focused on store operations, including menu planning, a hands on mixology lesson, and more. In addition to having expert speakers discuss topics like pressure vs. gravity fro-yo machines, there were ample Q&A sessions.


In between sessions we wandered around the exhibit area where vendors included the major fro-yo machine manufacturers, printing, fro-yo photography, payment systems, custom signs, store design and more. If you needed anything for your fro-yo business, you probably could have found a vendor at the conference. Since I don't own a store, I tended to hang out at the YoCream new products booth. It was there that you could eat fro-yo (as much as you wanted) and try brand new flavors like Greek Yogurt, Thin Mint, Angel Food Cake and Strawberry Lemonade sorbet before the general public.

I learned and kept learning about fro-yo...will share more about what I learned and saw all this week.

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