Rite Aid’s Fresh Day Café Offers “Thrifty Frozen Yogurt”

Fro-yo girl here. I recently learned that one remodeled Rite Aid location has self-serve froyo. The Rite Aid in Hollywood Hills (7900 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046) features a premium beauty department, larger pharmacy department and the Fresh Day Café. The Fresh Day Café offers Thrifty’s Ice Cream (by the scoop), Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf beverages, fresh baked goods and self-serve frozen yogurt. Ask for sample cups at the Fresh Day Café counter.

There are eight flavors to choose from plus a decent toppings bar for 49 cents an ounce. They also had a sorbet and no sugar added flavor. The frozen yogurt is from Dannon and they’re using Stoelting machines. Toppings include cookies, candy, sprinkles, cereal, nuts, fruit (looked like frozen and canned fruit), popping boba, cheesecake, mochi, coconut, gluten free granola (!) and syrups (kept by the register). The frozen yogurt ingredients and nutritional information were posted.

There were some textural problems with the yogurt (Euro Tart was overly icy and gritty) but they weren’t too bad. The Country Vanilla was rich, creamy, smooth and decadent.

Rite Aid Hollywood Hills started offering self-serve froyo in January 2015. The flagship Rite Aid location in Beverly Hills (300 North Canon Dr.), which already has a Fresh Day Café, will be getting self-serve frozen yogurt as well.

I like how Rite Aid’s frozen yogurt is sold by the ounce vs. Walgreen’s flat rate pricing for frozen yogurt and toppings because you don’t feel compelled to get more than you really want. Rite Aid’s frozen yogurt and toppings are better than Walgreen’s.

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.

Frozen Yogurt & Toppings Show in Fremont, CA on June 15, 10 AM - 4 PM

Fro-yo girl here. Palo Alto Egg is sponsoring a fro-yo & toppings open house show in Fremont, CA, to take place at the Western Freezers office. Own a frozen yogurt shop or thinking about getting into fro-yo? This is a show you should attend. It's National Frozen Yogurt Month and also around the time when the weather heats up and thoughts turn to fro-yo.

Come for:
* Show specials
* Over 100 toppings to try, including new toppings
* New YoCream flavors, including Activia soft serve fro-yo flavors
* New Stoelting soft serve machines
* Hot foods and slushes

Show Details: June 15, 10 AM - 4 PM

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

* WESTERN FREEZERS: 42285 Osgood Rd, Unit F, Fremont, CA

Western Freezers Open House & Tasting

Fro-yo girl here. Today I attended Western Freezers' open house, an event sponsored by YoCream and Palo Alto Egg. These type of events are perfect for (1) fro-yo networking, meeting people who are passionate about fro-yo, including vendors and fro-yo shop owners, (2) checking out the latest industry trends, (3) learning about fro-yo machines. I was excited to spot Chilaberries fro-yo van. I haven't been to their stores yet (they're in Tracy, Manteca, Patterson) but I saw some pictures of the stores and the elaborate decor was impressive. One store has an "under the sea" theme. Their Yeti mascot is a cutie. Apparently they carry 150 toppings, the most in the Bay Area.


Western Freezers carries Stoelting equipment, including fro-yo machines, frozen slush dispensers, hoodless fryers and more. It was interesting to see some old Stoelting fro-yo machines, including a 30 year old model that still works well. It featured an unusual side handle (vs. the usual style where you pull the handle down to dispense the product).




Palo Alto Egg is a Northern California food service distributor and they distribute YoCream, toppings, etc. They provided samples of juice poppers and colored jellies. The poppers seem to be catching on at fro-yo shops.

Yo Designs offers pre-fabricated design solutions (custom fro-yo kiosks) that allow you to have a completed kiosk in as little as four weeks.

YoCream brought five exciting new fro-yo flavors: Greek Yogurt, Thin Mint, Angel Food Cake, Strawberry Lemonade & Pink Grapefruit. Pink grapefruit was my favorite. It was tart and refreshing, with a strong grapefruit flavor. It had a bit of bitterness but that's natural for grapefruit. The strawberry lemonade was my second favorite. It was very tart and tasted mostly like lemonade (much more so than strawberry). Thin Mint was excellent, creamy mint chocolate flavor that would be so good with crushed cookies or a thin chocolate shell. The Greek Yogurt was very creamy but not sour enough...but they plan on adding honey to it. I'd love to try it again with the added honey flavor. Angel food cake wasn't as sweet as some of the cake batter/cupcake flavors (which is a good thing).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* WESTERN FREEZERS: 42285 Osgood Rd, Unit F, Fremont, CA

Five Stoelting Fro-yo Machines for Sale

Fro-yo girl here. If you're looking for fro-yo machines, I know someone in San Jose who is looking to sell 5 Stoelting f-131-381-GY air-cooled yogurt/ice cream machines. They're about a year old, currently in use, in excellent condition, and still under warranty. Stoelting, a 100 year old company, is considered to be one of the better fro-yo machine manufacturers. Back in 1939, they invented the first soft ice cream machine for Dairy Queen (known as Home Made Ice Cream Company back then). They're the brand of choice for Straus Organic Frozen Yogurt.

Original price: over $70,000
Asking for: $45,000

"Counter-top Model, Twin Twist, Gravity, Soft Serve/Yogurt Freezer. Triple-duty freezer allows you to serve two individual flavors or combine them for a twist, produces quality product consistency from first cone to last. IntelliTec control for worry-free operation. ECM (Energy Conservatiom Mode) protects from over-agitation. Optional floor stand creates a 'floor model" package freeing up counter space and providing additional storage."

If interested, e-mail your contact info to froyogirl@gmail.com

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