Fro-yo Girl Speaks 16th Blogiversary

Easy Breezy, Walnut Creek

Fro-yo girl here. Fro-yo Girl Speaks turns 16 today, so I’d like to reflect on the year in froyo. Of course, I still love froyo, and I think it’s been a good year for froyo. I’ve visited seven new places for froyo:

• Cuppa Yo, Dublin
• Easy Breezy, Walnut Creek
• Golden Spoon, Tustin. I made it to the grand opening for free froyo.
• Go Greek, Studio City
• Scoop & Cone, West Hollywood
• Yoga-urt, Granada Hills. I made it to the opening day.
• Yogurtland, Santa Monica

The grand openings aren’t what they used to be. They’re very modest these days. I haven't been devastated by any froyo shop closings this year, so far.

It’s been a great year for froyo spoons too. I collected nine new froyo spoons and a new one is coming soon to Menchie’s. Yogurtland has been coming out with more giant spoons and they’ve also had more promotions, e.g., A Laufey Day. Froyo Games for the Olympics, PAC-MAN. Multiple Yogurtland locations in the area have been remodeled this year. And they finally got rid of partial serve (i.e., you couldn’t add your own toppings).

Top It! Yogurt Shoppe

I visited Seattle and Salt Lake City and enjoyed some wonderful froyo during those visits. Top It! Frozen Yogurt in Snohomish, WA, was worth renting a car to visit. I finally made it Yagoot, which started offering froyo way back in 1977 (in Ohio) and opened in Salt Lake City last year. I have plans to take another froyo trip this year.

Sadly, the Pinkberry vending machines in the area that were installed last year have disappeared. I do think they were too limited though – offering only one flavor and a few toppings. Amazon Go stopped offering self-serve Pinkberry but they still carry froyo. Prices also continue to rise and average about $0.75/oz now vs. $0.70 this time last year.

Enlightened introduced frozen yogurt bark, which wasn’t any better than the frozen yogurt bark I could easily make at home.

Both Yogurtland and Menchie’s came out with shoe charms. I have both sets but refuse to wear Crocs.

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.

2014 Bay Area Froyo Year in Review

Fro-yo girl here. It’s time to look about at the year in froyo in the Bay Area. Since I’ve moved to SoCal, this will be the last Bay Area yearly review.

Closings slightly outpaced openings. Most of the openings occurred in the South Bay (San Jose area), followed by San Francisco openings. New froyo shops continued to replace old ones (e.g., Pure Yum, Yogurt in Love, Over the Moon). With two new San Jose locations opening in 2014, Yogurtland has the most locations in the Bay Area of any chain. They plan to open a location in Mountain View, CA soon. Red Mango opened a location at the San Jose International Airport last month.

Bay Area Openings 

• Easy Breezy Inner Sunset (San Francisco)
• Fusion Mix (Fremont)
• Honeyberry (Oakland)
• Loving Cup Hayes Valley (San Francisco)
• Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt (Oakridge Mall, San Jose & Dublin)
• Over the Moon Ice Cream & Cookies (2 locations, they took over Yogorino’s SF locations and kept the yogurt machines, and they still serve froyo)
• Pure Yum (Fremont, former FreshBerry location)
• Red Mango (San Jose International Airport)
• Souvla (San Francisco)
• YoDo Yogurt (Campbell)
• Yogurt in Love (Los Gatos)
• Yogurtland Brokaw, Cambrian Park, Cottle Rd. (San Jose)
• Yogurtland (Morgan Hill)

Most of the closings occurred in San Jose. Notable closings include Yogurt Delite’s two locations in San Jose. Both locations survived for decades. Tuttimelon closed its flagship Irving St. location (they moved from the original location on Irving St. to a larger location – the larger location closed) and one of its earliest locations on Chestnut St. in San Francisco. Icebee was the earliest self-serve shops in SF and it recently closed. Yogen Fruz opened its first location in the Bay Area at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco in early 2008, that location closed this year. Tutti Frutti closed several locations this year. The shops that closed were diverse – some were new self-serve shops and others had been around for decades. Some sold froyo only and others like Next Door Sweets and Good Bellies had many offerings plus froyo.

Bay Area Closings

• Cultive (San Francisco)
• Fro-Yo Shoppe (Mountain View)
• Froyo Delight (San Jose)
• Gaga Yogurt (San Jose)
• Good Bellies (Oakland)
• Icebee (San Francisco & San Jose)
• Next Door Sweets (San Francisco)
• Tuttimelon Chestnut St. & Irving St. (San Francisco)
• Tutti Frutti Oak Grove & Palos Verdes Mall (Walnut Creek)
• Tutti Frutti (Milpitas)
• Tutti Frutti Silver Creek (San Jose)
• Yogen Fruz (San Francisco)
• Yogurt Delite (Blossom Valley & Meridian, San Jose)
• Yogurt Village (San Jose)
• Yogurt Walk (Dublin)
• Yotopia (San Francisco)

More froyo shops are on the way in 2015.

Future Openings

• Easy Breezy Castro (San Francisco)
• Yogurtland (Mountain View)

For a comprehensive review of froyo events in 2014, check out IFYA's post on key events in the froyo industry in 2014 post.

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.