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.

The Mix Grand Opening Coverage

Fro-yo girl here. Congratulations to the Mix! Today was the grand opening celebration and true to their announcement on Facebook, guests received a free mini fro-yo (4 ozs) of their choice, with or without chocolate or rainbow jimmies (sprinkles). Today's flavors included: Chocolate, Vanilla, Mixed Berry and Original Tart. They also had other specials - free topping with a purchase of a medium fro-yo with two toppings and mix-ins of the day for $3.95. I saw some balloons out front and The Mix temporary tattoos but for a grand opening, it was fairly subdued.



There was a steady stream of customers and many of them paid for a larger size vs. choosing the free fro-yo. I guess "free" isn't as exciting in Menlo Park? I tried the vanilla fro-yo today and liked the rich, creamy texture.

The free fro-yo offer is good all day today, so there's still time...

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

THE MIX: 3536 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA

The Mix T-Shirt

Fro-yo girl here. My collection of fro-yo t-shirts expanded today. I hurried over to the Mix, the new Menlo Park fro-yo shop. They were giving out t-shirts to anyone who mentioned being a Facebook fan. The shirt has their grand opening date on it, February 27. Expect free fro-yo and other yet to to be named festivities. Thanks to The Mix! I like that they're serving organic fro-yo and the shop is spotless and gorgeous. Blue Bottle Coffee is always a plus as well.

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

* THE MIX: 3536 Alameda De Las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Yogurtland Dublin, 2 Places in Menlo Park

Fro-yo girl here. The door was open last week at the future Yogurtland Dublin. The fro-yo wall (still white without tiles) is up and they'll have 8 machines.


I stumbled upon a future location of Miyo Yogurt (the same Miyo that's located in downtown Los Altos). I'm sure that's self-serve since the Los Altos location is self-serve. The door wasn't open and I couldn't see inside.


The Mix is going to open up in a very sleepy/residential area of Menlo Park by the Dutch Goose. Since they've papered the front, I couldn't determine the state of the shop interior. Their Facebook page says they plan to open on February 11th.

Poor Redwood City. It's really being left out of the fro-yo trend, though it does have the ever classic Yumi Yogurt.

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

* YOGURTLAND WEST DUBLIN: 6851 Amador Plaza Rd., Dublin, CA
* MIYO YOGURT: 842 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA
* THE MIX: 3536 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA