Eighth Blogiversary of Fro-Yo Girl Speaks

Fro-yo girl here. Fro-yo Girl speaks turns 8 years old today, October 20, 2016. I’m still living in Southern California and going to different frozen yogurt shops. There are still way too many shops for me to get to all of them, though of course I’ve been to all the shops within a 20 minute drive. The shops downtown are more challenging to get to with the heat and the lack of parking.

Traveling and moving have allowed me to directly observe that frozen yogurt is much more popular in Southern California. It’s a lot warmer here and it’s warm-to-hot all year. While some froyo shops are closing, even more are still opening (believe it or not). There are fewer new shops opening in Northern California.

San Francisco is an odd city – it doesn’t have a big chain frozen yogurt shop, except Pinkberry. Yogen Fruz and Yogurtland used to have shops there. There aren’t many Menchie’s locations in the Bay Area. They’re not in San Francisco or Palo Alto. Of course both places have high rents.

The last time I visited San Francisco and had froyo at my favorite places, I was alarmed that several of them are no longer as good as they used to be. This definitely saddens me.

I’m always asked for froyo shop recommendations. My current recommendations are the following:

• Souvla (San Francisco, CA – various locations): Their simple Greek housemade frozen yogurt is delicious and refreshing. It also pairs well with their short selection of toppings. I recommend the housemade baklava and sour cherry syrup. Their salads are simple but so good too.
• Yoga-urt (1407 W Kenneth Rd., Glendale, CA): I didn’t know about Kenneth Village till Yoga-urt opened a little over a year ago. Their non-dairy, organic frozen yogurt is amazing – rich, creamy, with probiotics. It’s Mr. Froyo’s favorite place. I do miss the tang of cow milk yogurt that nut based milk yogurt doesn’t have but I appreciate the quality and flavors at Yoga-urt.
• Go Greek Yogurt (Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar): Their yogurt is imported from Greece and it does taste different. They make their frozen yogurt with that Greek yogurt and it’s a rich, indulgent treat. I love that they have Greek toppings too. Try the rose preserve.
• Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams (1954 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles): For the best scoopable frozen yogurt, head to Jeni's in Los Feliz. While Jeni's is known for ice cream, their biodynamic frozen yogurt is even better than their ice cream. The frozen yogurt bursts with tangy flavor.

Lately I’ve been obsessed with plain tart frozen yogurt with housemade baklava at Souvla. Housemade toppings are such a treat!

If you love frozen yogurt, be sure to join the International Frozen Yogurt Association, the association that I founded. It’s free to join. The monthly enewsletter is also free and will deliver froyo industry news to your inbox. http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/

Thank you so much to my fans and readers and keep eating frozen yogurt!

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.

New Contest for SoCal Froyo Shops: Switch It Up with Flavormine, Win Cases of Yogurt & Mochi

Fro-yo girl here. The International Frozen Yogurt Association and Flavormine are sponsoring a new contest for frozen yogurt shops in Southern California, Switch It Up With Flavormine. Flavormine is the sales division for Paramount Dairy who manufactures yogurt. Based in Southern California with over 10 years of experience, Flavormine supplies many of the most notable frozen yogurt concepts. It recently launched its own line of premium liquid frozen yogurt mix, now available in Southern California. Flavormine premium liquid yogurt mixes are made with quality ingredients in a Kosher certified facility in Southern California with California milk. Flavormine also sells yogurt toppings.

Frozen yogurt shops in Southern California are invited to complete a short 2 minute survey for a chance to win one of 13 prizes. The prizes include cases of mochi and Flavormine yogurt. The grand prize is 3 cases of Flavormine yogurt and 1 case of mochi.

About Flavormine Frozen Yogurt liquid mixes:

• Available flavors: Cake Batter, Chocolate, Classic Tart, Coconut, Cookies N Cream, Pistachio, Strawberry, Vanilla
• Produced with California milk
• Gluten free
• Contain 10 million Live and Active cultures per gram
• Manufactured in a Kosher certified facility in Southern California that meets HACCP and GMP standards, with 10 years of production experience
• Shipped frozen in recyclable packaging, just thaw and pour (no mixing required)

It only takes a minute or two to enter.

How to Enter

To enter, shops must fill out a survey hosted on SurveyMonkey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5LL8VZ2

Alternative entry method: Request the survey questions and answer the questions via an email sent to info@internationalfrozenyogurt.com

Entries will be accepted until midnight PT on September 30, 2015.

Eligibility

The contest is open to all frozen yogurt stores in within Southern California, the distribution area of Flavormine.

Entrants must be over 18 years old, a member of the International Frozen Yogurt Association (membership is free) and the owner/operator or employee of a frozen yogurt shop in Southern California. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY to enter.

Limit one entry per member.

About the Contest Sponsors

“We’re excited to be working with Flavormine to promote its new private label line of frozen yogurt mix. There are a few mix manufacturers whose products can be found just about everywhere. If you’re a frozen yogurt store who wants to offer a premium frozen yogurt mix that isn’t like your competition's mix down the street, this contest is for you,” explains IFYA President, Susan Linton. “Switch It Up with Flavormine – change can be a good thing. You can still carry the flavors you know customers love, plus add new options.”

According to Flavormine, “Flavormine has been in the business of quality frozen yogurt for 10 years. We manufacture proprietary products created by the most innovative flavor team in the industry. Yogurt is our passion and we offer a premium product at the best value to our customers. We are delighted to be able to create a contest, with The International Frozen Yogurt Association, in order to raise awareness of our product so we may share our passion for yogurt to the public. ”

For additional information about Flavormine, visit http://flavormine.com/

Full contest rules can be found at: http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/switch-it-up-with-flavormine-contest-rules/

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.

SoCal Fro-yo Report: Onigiri & Fro-yo, Vegan Soft Serve

Fro-yo girl here. I returned to SoCal, land of fro-yo, the capital of fro-yo. Fro-yo shops have continued to close. Cities like Moorpark have lost multiple fro-yo shops (Froyo Life, Menchie's). Of course there are still plenty of fro-yo shops. I look for innovative shops and I found the following:

* SUNNY BLUE (2728 Main St, Santa Monica, CA): I knew I had to go to a shop that specializes in two things I love: fro-yo and Japanese rice balls (omusubi/onigiri). The rice balls were better than the fro-yo. They're assembled after you order them so the onigiri is still warm and fresh. There aren't too many places to get a warm, freshly made onigiri. The fro-yo was organic. I did like their fro-yo toppings which included Pocky, cornflakes, mochi and red bean.


* KINDKREME (3701 Cahuenga Blvd. Studio City, CA): Gourmet raw vegan food...It's not a fro-yo shop but they do have soft serve ice cream. It isn't tart and they only seem to have chocolate and vanilla flavors (flavors aren't rotated). That was disappointing. I know that yogurt can be made with soy, rice milk, almond milk, etc. so I was hoping for a tart fro-yo. The vanilla soft serve is made with almond milk, giving it a nutty flavor. It was icy.

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

Los Angeles Fro-yo Treasures

Fro-yo girl here. Los Angeles...the capital of fro-yo, fro-yo central, fro-yo land. I like to visit several times a year to immerse myself in SoCal fro-yo. My favorite tart fro-yo shop has closed and other good tart fro-yo places have also closed their doors, but I was still able to find special fro-yo shops. These places excel in...sweet fro-yo and each one stands out in a sea of fro-yo shops.

* 21 CHOICES (locations in Pasadena, USC & Claremont): it's been around for in Pasadena for years and years, before the tart fro-yo explosion and it looks sure to survive the fro-yo meltdown. They make their own unique flavors, soft serve blends with cookies, fruit, candy pieces, and more. You can get the soft serve (6 flavors a day, they change daily) or add mix ins and/or toppings. And the mix ins - wow, they have donuts, cupcakes, cookies, cheesecake, tiramisu - everything. They even use organic ingredients when possible. Super fresh and super good.

* FROST FROZEN YOGURT (1848 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA): They have as much fro-yo variety as a self-serve shop, 10 flavors a day, and the soft serve sorbet and soft serve gelato flavors are top notch. The fro-yo toppings were really fresh, sampling was encouraged. Tasty all around.


* YOGURT STOP (8803 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA): the fiercest fro-yo shop I've ever been to - filled with attitude. The fro-yo flavors have the best names, like I'm Coming Out Cake Batter, Lezbionic Tonic, and Milk My Harvey Chocolate. And they have plenty of best of fro-yo awards too. The toppings bins are overflowing and the fro-yo tastes great. They also encourage sampling unlike some self-serve fro-yo places. Fun!

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