My Best Swirl of 2017

Fro-yo girl here. I’ll probably have some frozen yogurt on New Year’s Eve, but I think I’m done doing my own swirling for the year. So, I’m ready to look back at my year of froyo and pick my best swirl of the year.

I predict I’ll end the year with 187 cups of froyo consumed, slightly less than my 2016 total of 197 and down from the peak consumption year of 2015 when I hit 200 cups. Two hundred cups of froyo is a lot of froyo. I did share some cups with Mr. Froyo, especially the ones that I took home and put in the freezer, but very few.

You can see all the froyo that I consumed on my Pinterest board, 2017 Froyo Consumed by Me.

I took a close look at all my cups of froyo consumed to find my best looking swirl. My best swirl happened on International Frozen Yogurt Day (February 6, 2017) at Yogurtland Pasadena. The swirl looked better before I added toppings to it. While I didn’t leave room for toppings, the swirl did look perfect.

I also like to look at flavors and toppings that I selected. I found the following:

• Self-swirled (64%) of cups vs not swirled by me (36%)
• Single flavor (89%) vs. more than one flavor (11%) in the cup
• Dairy (69%) vs. non-dairy (31%)
• Yogurtland (31%) vs. other shops (69%)

This year I went to several places more often, including Pinkberry, Yoga-urt, Pressed Juicery and eateries that serve baklava as a froyo topping. I also ate a lot more non-dairy soft serve. But, I stayed loyal to Yogurtland. And I still don’t like having more than one flavor in my cup. I’m going to more non-self-serve places than in the past and I’m definitely happy about that.

Want to make your swirl look nicer? Read IFYA's Froyo Swirling Tips and get plenty of practice. Practice does help because you need to swirl with precision but also have a relaxed wrist. For inspiration, check out the IFYA’s Pinterest board, Best Looking Cups of Froyo.

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.

Final Days: IFYA's Instagram Video Contest Seeks Froyo Swirling Stars

Fro-yo girl here. Are your froyo swirls worthy of admiration? Can you show others how to improve their froyo swirling skills? The International Frozen Yogurt Association (IFYA) is looking for you. The IFYA is looking for froyo swirling stars to inspire others to improve their swirling skills.

The two lucky winners will win free froyo (1st prize: 100 ounces of froyo, 2nd prize: 50 ounces of free froyo) and receive official recognition as Froyo Swirling Stars.

HOW TO ENTER

1. Make an Instagram video that shows how to make the perfect froyo swirl. Be sure to explain how to achieve that perfect swirl (you can describe your technique in your Instagram caption) and clearly show that your swirl looks picture perfect. 
2. Follow @intlfroyoassn on Instagram and tag your videos #FroyoSwirlingSkills. Share your video by July 7, 2015 - time is running out.

THE PRIZES

• First prize: Gift cards for 100 ounces of free froyo from Yogurtland
• Second prize: Gift cards for 50 ounces of free froyo from Yogurtland

ELIGIBILITY AND RULES No Purchase is Necessary. 

You can enter as many times as you’d like. The video you submit should be your own, a video that you created for this contest.

The contest ends July 7, 2015 at 11:59 PM PST.

Contestants must be at least 18 years old.

For complete rules, see: http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/official-rules-for-the-froyo-swirling-skills-contest/

Good luck!

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.

Best Swirls of 2012

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve examined all the pictures of fro-yo that I took this year and picked out my best swirls. It’s easier to get a pretty swirl with one flavor and a small cup. The fro-yo has to be firm enough. The swirls need to look well defined and be in the center of the cup.

I picked a one flavor and a two flavor example. They were both swirled at Yogurtland.


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

Swirl Art Poll Results

Fro-yo girl here. With the dominance of self-serve frozen yogurt shops, I wondered how the freedom to swirl your own fro-yo had affected attitudes towards swirling. That is, when you’re swirling your own cup of fro-yo, do you try to make it look nice? The results are in and only 14% never attempt to swirl a nice cup of fro-yo. Perhaps some of the 14% aren’t able to swirl their own fro-yo because they don’t live close to a self serve fro-yo shop.

As for those who care about the appearance of their cup of fro-yo, 42% always try to make their swirl look nice and 42% sometimes make the attempt. I’ve noticed that my own swirling has improved quite a bit over the years, since I’ve had to swirl many cups of fro-yo. While I’ve always wanted a nice looking cup of fro-yo, I didn’t feel capable of it when I first started swirling. I can now take pride in the appearance of my cups of fro-yo. I’m also more disappointed when I go to a full service frozen yogurt shop and I get an ugly cup of fro-yo (e.g., Jamba Juice needs to train their employees on swirling Whirl’ns frozen yogurt).

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

Fro-yo Swirling Skills

Fro-yo girl here. The results are in. I asked you, the readers, about your fro-yo swirling skills, and the majority of you (59%) are fro-yo swirling masters. I fall in the "I get by" category, along with 26% of you. Only 6% of you say that you need lessons and 8% have never had to swirl their own fro-yo. I've seen some hideously ugly swirling from most people, so the results show that my readers are people who, for the most part, are really into fro-yo (and possibly work in the fro-yo business) and/or naturally gifted.

I've actually had fro-yo swirling lessons but I was very nervous at the time and I think my swirling tends to be too tense and controlled. The lesson involved tilting the cup a bit and letting the wrist do much of the work. The end result should be uniform swirls that end in a peak that stands up (I've included a picture that I think shows great swirling technique). Other factors influence the ease of swirling too. Sometimes it's too soft or too stiff. Sometimes it comes out the machine too quickly.

I think I'm getting better but I can't stop thinking that I'd prefer to have someone swirl my fro-yo fro me as I swirl my own.

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