First Yogen Fruz U Serve Visit

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been to a couple of Yogen Fruz locations since they first opened in the Bay Area in 2008. I remember being at the grand opening of the San Francisco Embarcadero location, a location which just closed this year. They were different from other froyo shops because they had the Mix It custom blended frozen yogurt creations. This blended creation was developed by Yogen Fruz and featured its probiotic proprietary frozen yogurt.

Mix It allowed the customer to choose the base frozen yogurt (lowfat vanilla, lowfat chocolate, nonfat vanilla or nonfat tart frozen yogurt base) and fruit. The fruit and bar of frozen yogurt would then be blended together in the Yogen Fruz machine. The end result was thick and creamy with fruit chunks and seeds (for fruit with seeds). The mixing process wasn’t thorough, normally you’d see some unmixed froyo in your cup. The Mix It style was popular in Canada, where Yogen Fruz got its start in 1986.

Yogen Fruz also offered Top It, which wasn’t a custom blended frozen yogurt product but was similar to the other soft serve style frozen yogurt products found at most froyo shops.

It wasn’t clear whether the mix in style frozen yogurt would catch on in the US. In an interesting turn of events, Yogen Fruz entered a licensing agreement with Jamba Juice which provided Jamba Juice with the right to use the Yogen Fruz operating system and registered trademarks in 2011. Jamba Juice’s Whirl’ns frozen yogurt was a mix in style frozen yogurt. It was offered for a few years but phased out in 2013. Mix In style frozen yogurt has caught on elsewhere though – “Today, Yogen Früz has grown to more than 1400 locations operating in over 46 countries around the world.“

In 2010, Yogen Fruz opened its first self-serve location; their self-serve offering is called U Serve. I don’t recall hearing about any U Serve locations in the Bay Area but it is available in Los Angeles. The first Yogen Fruz location in LA (Tarzana, opened in 2008) added U Serve about a year ago. They also kept the Mix It froyo option.

U Serve is similar to your usual self-serve froyo. Grab a cup, choose from 10 self-serve froyo flavors, and add toppings. It’s 49 cents an ounce. The toppings were typical: fruit, mochi, syrups, popping boba, candy, cookies, chips, nuts, rainbow sprinkles, graham cracker crumbs. The froyo flavors were similar to ones you’d find at most froyo shops.

Froyo flavors of the day:

• Greek style: more flavorful than the tart, smooth, has an interesting taste, maybe honey, light texture 
• Passionfruit
• Espresso
• Pistachio
• Red velvet
• Strawberry fields
• Mangolicious sorbet
• Tart: light, smooth, not that tart (on the sweet side)
• Vanilla
• Chocolate

U serve froyo tastes a lot different than the Mix It style yogurt. It’s much lighter. Granted, it is of course a different style of froyo but I was still expecting some similiarities. I’m not sure how U Serve's frozen yogurt differs from Yogurty’s which is a Canadian self-serve froyo chain owned by International Franchise Corp. (the same company owns Yogen Fruz).

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.

Goodbye Jamba Juice Whirl’ns

Fro-yo girl here. I realized I hadn’t had a mix-in style frozen yogurt recently so I dropped by Jamba Juice to see what was new with their frozen yogurt line, Whirl’ns, powered by Yogen Fruz. Whirl’ns were made to order with fresh fruit and other ingredients including your choice of frozen yogurt base. My Jamba Juice location no longer offered Whirl’ns. I called a few other Jamba locations and learned that they’ve made the decision to quietly phase out Whirl’ns.

Whirl’ns was introduced Whirl’ns in Northern California in December 2010 and expanded to additional locations in 2011. They had a few seasonal flavors like Great Pumpkin and Wildly Watermelon.

Whirl’ns is still available at some locations but probably not for that much longer.

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.

Search for the Best Pumpkin Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. Pumpkin season runs from October and November and it’s the time of year that I develop a seemingly tireless craving for pumpkin fro-yo. I recently tried the pumpkin fro-yo at several Bay Area fro-yo shops to see which place had the best pumpkin fro-yo. 

* Fraiche Yogurt: Their organic pumpkin fro-yo comes back in the fall and it’s a strong contender for best pumpkin fro-yo. The flavor is clean and natural with a good balance of pumpkin flavor, spices and yogurt flavor. It’s not too sweet and tastes great with their toppings. It leans towards the icy side as well though it isn’t watered down.
* Yogurtland: Pumpkin pie fro-yo has returned to many Yogurtland locations for a limited time. It has a thick, smooth, creamy texture. I like how it isn’t super sweet and the spices aren’t overpowering.  
* Blush Organic Frozen Yogurt: Blush pumpkin fro-yo has returned and it’s one of their best flavors. Their pumpkin fro-yo is not too sweet. There’s a hint of spice that doesn’t overwhelm but rather complements the natural, clean pumpkin and yogurt flavors. It’s thick, smooth and refreshing.
* Jamba Juice: The Great Pumpkin Swirl Whirl’ns fro-yo flavor shows up in the fall around the same time as their Pumpkin Smash smoothie. This mix-in style fro-yo features a base of vanilla fro-yo swirled with several scoops of spiced pumpkin puree. The two are combined in Yogen Fruz’s mix-in fro-yo machines. The fro-yo texture was thick and creamy but had larger ice crystals and the pumpkin and vanilla wasn’t evenly mixed in sections. The flavor was good but very sweet with an overwhelming amount of cinnamon.
* Easy Breezy: New pumpkin pie fro-yo flavor introduced in October. The squash/pumpkin flavor is clearly distinguishable. The flavor tastes natural and isn’t too sweet. I think it could use a bit more spice. It leans towards the icy side though it’s not watered down.

I’m pleased with the current crop of pumpkin fro-yo. I really like how most of the pumpkin fro-yo flavors that I tried weren’t too sweet and the spices complemented but didn’t overwhelm the pumpkin flavor. My favorite pumpkin fro-yo is still Blush’s, followed closely by Fraiche. Both offer a natural, clean tasting fro-yo that isn’t heavily sugared.

I like adding graham cracker crust and almonds to my pumpkin fro-yo.

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


* BLUSH ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT: 1212 Donnelly Ave., Burlingame, CA
* EASY BREEZY FROZEN YOGURT: 4028 24th St., San Francisco, CA
* FRAICHE FROZEN YOGURT: 1910 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA

Swirl Art Poll Results

Fro-yo girl here. With the dominance of self-serve frozen yogurt shops, I wondered how the freedom to swirl your own fro-yo had affected attitudes towards swirling. That is, when you’re swirling your own cup of fro-yo, do you try to make it look nice? The results are in and only 14% never attempt to swirl a nice cup of fro-yo. Perhaps some of the 14% aren’t able to swirl their own fro-yo because they don’t live close to a self serve fro-yo shop.

As for those who care about the appearance of their cup of fro-yo, 42% always try to make their swirl look nice and 42% sometimes make the attempt. I’ve noticed that my own swirling has improved quite a bit over the years, since I’ve had to swirl many cups of fro-yo. While I’ve always wanted a nice looking cup of fro-yo, I didn’t feel capable of it when I first started swirling. I can now take pride in the appearance of my cups of fro-yo. I’m also more disappointed when I go to a full service frozen yogurt shop and I get an ugly cup of fro-yo (e.g., Jamba Juice needs to train their employees on swirling Whirl’ns frozen yogurt).

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

2011 the Fro-yo Year in Review

Fro-yo girl here. As 2011 draws to a close, it’s time to look back at fro-yo events and trends and check out which of my fro-yo wishes came true.

Salty, sweet fro-yo flavors gain favor. This was the year when fro-yo flavors ventured into the land of salty and sweet, with peanut butter and jelly, salted caramel and maple bacon donut.

Fro-yo on the move. The rise of mobile fro-yo trucks was a major trend in 2011, with NYC and Chicago leading the way.

Fro-yo prices rise. The fro-yo price wars of 2009-2010 have ended and even Yogurtland raised its prices to 33 cents and up from 30 cents an ounce. Prices have gone up at many fro-yo shops.

Fro-yo bubble bursts in the Bay Area. Fewer fro-yo shops are opening as the number of closures rises. It’s always sad to see a fro-yo shop close but the ones that I will truly miss are Jubili (the first place I tried tart fro-yo) in SF, Yogurt Harmony in Berkeley, Tartini in Cupertino, and Fro-ggie in Fremont, CA.

Notable fro-yo openings in the Bay Area. Two locations of the Italian fro-yo chain, Yogorino, brought a richer style of fro-yo to SF. Jamba Juice’s Whirln’s fro-yo reached the Bay Area.

My fro-yo wishes mostly came true. I did get more signature fro-yo spoons. Yogurtland came out with Sanrio yogurt spoons. We did get a mobile fro-yo truck in the Bay Area though it was non-dairy. I did have a Greek fro-yo. However, I didn’t have any macarons with fro-yo.

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

Jamba Juice Whirl'ns Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. I finally tried Whirl'ns, the frozen yogurt line Jamba Juice started testing in the Sacramento region in December 2010. They expanded the offering to SoCal next and recently started offering it in the Bay Area. You can find locations that carry Whirl'ns by visiting the Jamba Juice website. Note, no SF Jamba locations carry Whirl'ns. The closest location to SF with Whirl'ns is the remodeled Westlake location in Daly City. They just reopened today.

Whirl'ns offers custom mixed flavors (Blueberry Pomegranate Peaks, Swirly Strawberry Vanilla, Minty Chocolate Chip, Magnificent Mango Pineapple, Jazzy Java Chocolate, Awesome Apple Cinnamon) or plain (tart, vanilla or chocolate). The mixed flavors feature lowfat vanilla, lowfat chocolate or non-fat tart fro-yo.

I tried the blueberry pomegranate flavor since it is made with the tart base. The fro-yo is mixed in a machine. It's similar to Yogen Fruz but YF has a more flavorful yogurt base. The fro-yo is thick and very creamy without having that nice refreshing edge that some tart fro-yo has. It's sweet and tangy but not very tangy. Frozen blueberry pieces added texture. The taste reminds me of a firmer version of a Jamba Juice smoothie. I prefer Yogen Fruz for mix-in fro-yo but think Whirl'ns is decent.


Prices: Small $3.50, Medium $4.75, includes one topping. The toppings include granola, coconut, brown sugar, chocolate, almonds and bananas.

They currently have a seasonal flavor that I'm excited about Great Pumpkin Swirl and there were $1 off coupons at the store (good for any Whirl'ns fro-yo).

* JAMBA JUICE: 340 Westlake Center, Daly City, CA