Year End Fro-yo Wrap Up

Fro-yo girl here. Where has 2012 gone? It’s time for my year end summary of the world of fro-yo. 

Bay Area comings and goings: In Bay Area news, fro-yo shops continued to close but new ones, particularly from chains, continued to open. Red Mango returned to the Bay Area, opening a self-serve shop in Emeryville. Yogurtland finally opened a store in SF this month. SF earned the distinction of being the location for Pinkberry’s 200th store. I’m really happy that Easy Breezy opened in Noe Valley. Sadly, the Bay Area said goodbye to fro-yo shops like The Mix, YoSwirl, Yogurt Train, SoFrais, Luscious, and one of my former favorites, Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt. YoCup changed ownership.

Special fro-yo spoons: It was a very good year for fro-yo spoon fans. Yogurtland gave us four new limited time only Sanrio fro-yo spoon designs: TuxedoSam, Bad Badtz Maru, Hello Kitty and Little Twin Stars. Menchie’s introduced limited edition Chip fro-yo spoons. Tutti Frutti now carries fruit shaped logo fro-yo spoons in five colors. 

Supermarket fro-yo offerings keep expanding: Ben & Jerry’s, Ciao Bella, TCBY, Healthy Choice, Trader Joe’s, Stonyfield Oikos, and Yoplait launched new fro-yo flavors this year. The Ben & Jerry’s truck visited SF and handed out Greek fro-yo in May. Supermarket yogurt brands aren’t content to stay in the supermarket either. 

(Non-frozen) yogurt shops open: Chobani and Yogurt Culture Company (owned by Dannon) opened yogurt shops in SoHo and Midtown, respectively. Pinkberry launched Greek yogurt (not frozen) at a few locations.

More chains go self-serve: TCBY, Golden Spoon, and Yogen Fruz joined the list of self-serve fro-yo shops. With so much self-serve fro-yo, fro-yo creations now look uglier than ever. Pinkberry seems to be the only major chain that's holding out against the trend.

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

Red Mango Returns to the Bay Area

Fro-yo girl here. Red Mango is back in the Bay Area. Today was the first day of their Emeryville location. It was my first time to try their self-serve format. They’ve introduced many new fro-yo flavors that I haven’t had the chance to try (e.g., white peach, lemonade, honey badger, winter caramel) and specialty drinks like smoothies and lemonade chillers. The cups are cuter now. There are red spoons everywhere. 

RM Emeryville has 10 fro-yo flavors a day and about 30 toppings (fresh fruit, candy, cookies, granola, graham cracker crumbs, mini chocolate chips, syrups, honey, mochi, cereal, nuts, popping boba, etc.) for 45 cents an ounce. You can either grab a cone, fro-yo cup (multiple sizes) or clear parfait cup. Instructions are provided.

I didn’t see any opening day promotions.. Maybe later? Check their FB page for news. Of course you can always earn perks by signing up for their loyalty program. Plus there’s a Taste of Bay Street event tomorrow from 1 - 3 PM with free food samples but the samples are already free at RM.

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

* RED MANGO FROZEN YOGURT: 5616 Bay St. 5609, Emeryville, CA

Future Fro-yo Shop: Red Mango Emeryville

Fro-yo girl here. I was surprised to hear that Red Mango is coming back to the Bay Area. Emeryville is finally getting its first fro-yo shop! 

Red Mango isn’t listed in the Bay Street Shopping Center directory yet and the sign isn’t on the space yet. They’re taking over the old Coldstone Creamery space near Pizza My Heart and Teacake Bake Shop. I peeked inside and could see that they were already working on the inside. It’s a larger space, so perhaps it will be self-serve? Update: Yes, it is self-serve.

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

* RED MANGO EMERYVILLE: Bay Street Emeryville, 5616 Bay St., Space 5609, Emeryville, CA