The Great Spoon Trade!

Fro-yo girl here. Do you love froyo spoons? Do you collect froyo spoons? You know that I answered yes to both questions. I’m looking to trade some of my current froyo spoons in order to obtain froyo spoons that aren’t currently part of my collection.

I am looking for the following froyo spoons:

* Pink ELFY spoons from Froyo World
* Early Yogurtland spoons - light pink and light green clear spoons with old Yogurtland logo that were available around 2007
* Fru:yo Factory elephant head spoons from Hong Kong

* Yogen Fruz blue spoons with cut out smile/U shape

If you think you have some nice froyo spoons that I haven’t mentioned but might be interested in, let me know.

Let me know which spoons you are looking for and we can go from there. 

For more information, check out my IFYA classified ad. You can buy, sell or trade froyo items using IFYA's free classified ads. Any registered IFYA member can create an ad and membership is free.

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.

Vancouver Fro-yo Report

Fro-yo girl here. While I wasn’t able to go to every fro-yo shop in the greater Vancouver area, I think I covered the downtown and West End area. This is what I found:

* Saporito, 1703 Robson St. (West End): Gelato place that replaced Blueberry. Blueberry served fro-yo and Saporito has one fro-yo machine and one fro-yo flavor, original tart. I wanted to try it but it was closed for the week.
* Footo Delights, 820 Homer St. (Downtown/Yaletown): Tiny Asian owned bakery cafe that replaced Froyo Swirl. They have one flavor of fro-yo, original tart, and some interesting toppings (but no mochi).

* Yogen Fruz, 1286 Robson St. (West End): I was surprised to only find one Yogen Fruz, looked like a typical YF, on the small side
* Qoola, 1116 Denman St. (West End): Their original location, with 4 fro-yo flavors, it just closed (for good). I managed to try it (just in time). They have 4 other locations.
* The Milkman, 1689 Johnston St. (Granville Island): Has sweet soft serve fro-yo (chocolate and vanilla) and Canadian style mix in yogurt (yogurt base mixed with frozen fruit in a machine).

I did get lost on the way to Pinkberry’s Vancouver location (its first in Canada). Why can’t it be closer to downtown? I hopped on a bus to take me across the bridge into West Vancouver.


Overall, I was surprised by the lack of fro-yo, the lack of tart fro-yo flavors and the lack of self-serve fro-yo. There’s only one fro-yo shop in the downtown area. The West End has the highest concentration of fro-yo shops which isn’t surprising considering that’s also where most of the Korean restaurants are. There are more gelato shops than fro-yo shops and some of these had yogurt gelato.

Maybe people are too busy eating $1.56 slices of pizza? I was expecting a more vibrant fro-yo scene in Vancouver.

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

Fro-yo Store Count

Fro-yo girl here. It's time for another update of the chain store location count. The counts are based on the locations listed on the company websites. Yogurtland just announced the opening of store #150 in Bakersfield, CA, on August 14. The figure includes U.S. and international locations. Their goal is "to open 550 stores by 2015."

* YOGURTLAND: 147 locations in the U.S., 3 outside (Mexico, Guam and Japan), 96 U.S. locations last August
* RED MANGO: 128 locations in the U.S. though a recent article says 132 stores are in operation in the U.S., "230 locations in over 17 countries across the world," 70 U.S. locations last August
* PINKBERRY: 116 locations in the U.S., 17 locations outside the U.S., 95 U.S. locations last August
* GOLDEN SPOON: 102 locations in the U.S., 25 locations outside of the U.S., 113 U.S. locations last August
* MENCHIE'S: 98 locations in the U.S., 2 in Canada, 47 U.S. locations last August
* YOGEN FRUZ: 56 locations in the U.S., locations in 13 other countries, 40 locations in the U.S. last August

Red Mango's growth has been impressive with 62 new U.S. locations since the last time I counted about a year ago compared to 21 for Pinkberry and 51 for Yogurtland. Menchie's has proven to be one to watch with 51 new U.S. locations since last August.

It will be interesting to see what impact the new CEO of Red Mango, Barry Barron, will have. They've embraced self-serve as well as other products (smoothies, parfaits, iced tea) while Yogurtland and Menchie's offer only fro-yo.

TCBY continues to be the largest fro-yo chain, with over 470 U.S. locations.

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

Future Yogurt Shop Picture: Yoppi SF Westfield Centre

Fro-yo girl here. Today was one of those rare days when I actually made it downtown and to Chinatown. Tuttimelon Bear and I wanted to take our visiting friends from London to Tuttimelon. We also walked around SF Westfield Centre to look for signs of fro-yo. I took a picture of the future Yoppi Yogurt store. It's in the old Cefiore space. We didn't see any visible signs of the future Pinkberry in the food court area or Tuttimelon (by the theater). I couldn't look inside Yoppi but it says Coming Soon July 2010 on the outside.


My keen fro-yo eye spotted a Yogen Fruz kiosk inside the Metreon. They have two Mix It machines there. You can't get the Top It style at that location.

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

* YOPPI YOGURT: 845 Market St. #277, San Francisco, CA

World's Largest Frozen Yogurt Store

Fro-yo girl here. The other day someone suggested that I should review the world's largest frozen yogurt store. That sounds like a task I'd be up for...if only I knew where it was. I'm not even sure which shop is the largest in the Bay Area.

Coco Swirl Walnut Creek has the most fro-yo machines (10) and it has plenty of seating. Maybe it's the largest in the Bay Area? Tuttimelon Union City might be the largest in the Bay Area?

Back in 1987, I Can't Believe It's Yogurt claimed that its Lawrence, Kansas store was the World's largest frozen yogurt store. I don't think that location is still open. I Can't Believe It's Yogurt is now owned by Yogen Fruz.

Here's another blast from the fro-yo past. Back in 1991, four girls were killed at the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt location in Texas. The crime was shockingly brutal and it happened at the fro-yo shop. How awful.

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

* COCO SWIRL: 1273 Locust St., Walnut Creek, CA
* TUTTIMELON: 32200 Dyer St., Union City, CA

Yogen Früz Valentine's Day Specials

Fro-yo girl here. The big day is fast approaching. How will you incorporate fro-yo into your Valentine's Day plans? To celebrate Valentine's Day, Yogen Früz is offering a new, limited edition flavor called Cupid’s Arrow. I haven't tried Cupid's Arrow yet but I do know that it's a mix-it style (vs. the top it style) fro-yo with strawberries. On V-Day, you can get two custom blended mix-its for the promotional price of $4.98 (it's the “Ü and Your Date special). Give the gift of Valentine's themed Ü-Cards, available at your nearest Yogen Früz or online at www.yogenfruz.com/home/en/ucard).

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