The Decline of Qoola Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. It’s painful to document a froyo chain’s demise but I need to document good and bad news. It seemed like a few years ago, Qoola was growing quite a bit and becoming Western Canada’s self-serve frozen yogurt chain. They added a froyo truck, introduced new products, switched to organic Canadian froyo, and introduced new store concepts like Qoola Fresh which included healthy entrées, desserts, and sandwiches.

Qoola started with one store in Vancouver, BC in 2008. While it didn’t initially serve Canadian yogurt, it later made the switch to organic frozen yogurt from Ontario’s Mapleton’s Organic Dairy Farm. I visited the original location in Vancouver while it was still serving American froyo and wasn’t self-serve.

Now every time I try to visit their website, I get a message about a mass injection attack. This has been going on for months, so I am assuming that they aren’t paying attention to their website. I’m not able to visit the website to see their list of locations. Most of them were in British Columbia.

There are still occasional tweets, FB posts, and Instagram posts from @qoola, but these are few and far between. Their current LinkedIn profile says that they have 18 locations. I have a feeling that number hasn’t been updated in quite some time. What’s particularly alarming is how several shops didn’t even last a year.


OPEN

1. Richmond, Aberdeen Centre 
2. York Lanes, York University 
3. Garden City 
4. Guildford 
5. Robson, Vancouver 
6. Hillside Mall, Victoria 
7. Uptown, Victoria 

CLOSED

1. Cook St. Village Victoria 
2. Coquitlam Centre (grand opening in 2017, already closed) 
3. Metrotown, 2250 4700 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC V5H 4N2 
4. 2945 Jacklin Rd, Langford, BC, V9B4V5 
5. Park Royal, West Vancouver 
6. UBC 
7. North Vancouver 
8. Westshore Town Centre, Victoria 
9. Square One, Mississauga 
10. Pacific Center, Vancouver 
11. Oakridge, Vancouver 
12. Yates, Victoria 
13. Orchard Park, Kelowna 
14. Market Mall, Calgary 
15. Woodgrove, Nanaimo 
16. Greenbelt, Makati, The Philippines 

There were 4 locations in late 2011, 16 locations in December 2014 and 21 locations in 2016. They acquired two Yeti Yogurt locations in 2016 and both of those closed quickly. Twenty one might have been the peak number. Things are looking grim for froyo in the Pacific Northwest area.

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.

Pinkberry is Being Served at Clifton’s Republic in Downtown Los Angeles

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been wanting to go to The Pacific Seas tiki bar inside Clifton’s Republic since it opened last fall but I heard that reservations were necessary and that they were booked for weeks. So, I decided to wait for the excitement to die down before going. I didn’t actually see the Pacific Seas because we went too early in the day (it opens at 6 PM), but we decided to check out Clifton’s Cafeteria instead.

Clifton’s is hard to describe but it’s a part of old LA history (Ray Bradbury and Walt Disney were regulars). It was a well-known chain of cafeterias, with the original location founded in downtown LA in 1931. This location was reopened in 2015 under new ownership. It’s much more than a cafeteria. There are multiple levels with the cafeteria, a ballroom, The Monarch Bar, the Gothic Bar, Pacific Seas tiki bar, gift shop and interesting décor.

People come because of the over the top fantasy décor. There’s a huge redwood tree in the center, more trees, a waterfall, taxidermy (buffalo, bear, peacocks, foxes, etc.), and a rock like chapel you can enter. The place is like a forest meets lodge, meets natural history museum. The interior is dark and it feels like you’re stepping into a different world.

The cafeteria is pretty amazing – so many options and it’s nicer than it used to be (prices are higher too, but not crazy). They serve free range chicken and use quality ingredients. There’s a salad/soup station, carving station, pizza/sandwich station, fresh baked pastries, breakfast bar (we were there on brunch), dessert station (cakes, jello, pies), PINKBERRY station, Stumptown Coffee, Rishi tea, housemade lemonade, etc. Grab a tray and get what looks appealing. Some of the items are cooked to order.

And yes, they have frozen yogurt. They used to serve soft serve ice cream and switched to Pinkberry a few months ago. This is the only place in the downtown core to get Pinkberry!!!! And you can serve yourself. There aren’t as many toppings. Toppings included gummy bears, nuts, coconut, yogurt chips, peanut butter chips, crumbled Oreos, mini M&Ms and granola. A small is $4.95 and a medium is $5.95, flat rate. Sadly, the machine didn’t have a sign saying frozen yogurt and the flavors, original and pomegranate, weren’t even labeled. I didn’t get the feeling that they ever offered other flavors.

* Pinkberry original and pomegranate frozen yogurt: The texture was icier than usual but the flavor was definitely Pinkberry!

This must be the most interesting place to get Pinkberry and the only flat rate, self-serve location that I know of. If you have good swirling skills, you can get a lot for $5 plus tax.

I still have to visit the Pacific Seas, but I doubt it has frozen yogurt.

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

* CLIFTON’S REPUBLIC: 648 S Broadway, Los Angeles (Downtown), CA 90014

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 at Quenelle

Fro-yo girl here. Quenelle, an ice cream shop known for its creative and Asian flavors, first opened in Burbank in 2013. The owners, John and Christina Park, opened Ice Que, a shaved ice/snow dessert house, in Alhambra last year. Quenelle’s second shop has just opened in San Marino.

The man behind the scoop, John Park was the pastry chef at Lukshon and has worked in the dessert kitchens of Providence, XIV and Water Grill. Quenelle an Marino features Park’s housemade ice cream(16 flavors, including non-dairy varieties), popsicles, pies and baked goods. Yes, he bakes cookies, brownies, bars and pies. You can top your ice cream with (mostly) housemade toppings like bourbon caramel, graham cracker streusel, caramelized rice and candied pecans.

Some scoop flavors are always available, like customer favorite, blueberry pie. Once in awhile, but not very often, frozen Greek yogurt shows up in scoopable and stick form. Greek froyo flavors include orange, kaffir lime, and cucumber.

The orange Greek frozen yogurt tasted like orange juice sherbet and was noticeably icier than their ice cream. I was disappointed by the lack of yogurt tang/yogurt flavor. The orange frozen yogurt I’ve made at home had more yogurt flavor and a thicker, creamier texture.

The misugaru (roasted grain) ice cream was much more interesting though the flavor was on the subtle side. The best thing I had was the blueberry snickerdoodle cookie – chewy, soft, slightly crispy with blueberry flavor explosions.

You can also get cold pressed juices at the San Marino location.

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

* QUENELLE: 2136 Huntington Dr., San Marino, CA 91108

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.

Jeni’s Summer Book Tour: Urban Radish Stop

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve mentioned Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream in several blog posts because Jeni’s makes crazy good frozen yogurt: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2014/05/jenis-splendid-ice-creams-chicago-scoop.html

Jeni recently released her second cookbook, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts, and is touring the country to demonstrate her recipes, share her ice cream and sign her cookbooks. It was an honor to meet the queen of artisan ice cream, Jeni (Britton Bauer) today and sample some Manchego cheese ice cream with sauteed stone fruit. The event took place today at Urban Radish, a new community market that emphasizes fresh, local, quality ingredients and products in downtown LA. 

Jeni talked about both her cookbooks. The first one was inspired to getting the texture and body right for ice cream made at home. The second one has more bases to play with including frozen custard, soft serve and creme sans lait (a dairy free base that took a year to develop). We watched as she made Manchego ice cream and answered questions from the audience. She explained the science behind her recipe and even told us perfecting ice cream scooping and the best scoop to use. We were invited to take some freestyling cards, the cards suggest different desserts that can be made with the recipes in her book like German chocolate cake and strawberry almond cake.

I was amazed when she said that her favorite recipe is her frozen yogurt recipe. Yes, frozen yogurt is her favorite! I asked how to adapt the soft serve recipe for froyo and she suggested substituting yogurt for the buttermilk in her buttermilk soft serve recipe.

The new book has several frozen yogurt recipes (bergamot, fresh ginger, fresh peach, huckleberry, mango lassi) and even a frozen skyr recipe that I’m eager to try. Plus I need to make the mochi cake! The pictures are drool inducing.

Information about the book tour can be found on Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream website:http://jenis.com/cookbooks/book-tour-page-ii/

The next stop is Portland, OR.

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.

Easy Breezy 2 Opening Day

Fro-yo girl here. Easy Breezy’s Inner Sunset location opened today! Of course I couldn’t stay away. There are four shiny new Carpigiani soft serve machines serving up 8 scrumptious hand-crafted frozen yogurt and frozen custard flavors a day. I love checking out the toppings bar because they’re always adding unique toppings. Today they had potato chips, bacon and my favorite, waffle cookies. I love seeing the sweet froyo cup logo/character named Breezy too.

Here are some pictures from opening day!

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

* EASY BREEZY FROZEN YOGURT: 718 Irving St., San Francisco, CA 94122

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.

Swirl Culture Lowers Prices in November

Fro-yo girl here. I received an e-mail from Swirl Culture this week announcing a change in pricing.

Swirl Culture’s fall pricing (starting in November):
* Yogurt: Small $2.50/ Medium $4/ Large $5.50
* Toppings: 1 topping 95 cents/ 2 toppings $1.20/ 3 toppings $1.50
* Shaved Ice: Regular $5.95/ Large $7.95

Original Swirl Culture yogurt pricing:
* Small $2.75/Additional topping is $0.95
* Medium $4.25/ +3 toppings $5.50
* Large $6/ +3 toppings $7

So they’ve basically cut the price of the small and medium size yogurt by 25 cents. The price was comparable to other fro-yo shops in SF though the medium is still more expensive than the other places below:

SoGreen Original/Yogurt Bar Original/Yogen Fruz
S $2.95/$2.50/$2.50
M $3.95/$3.50/$3.50
L $5.75/$5.70/$5.50


I don’t think Swirl Culture is competing with the downtown SF fro-yo shops. There aren’t as many fro-yo options in North Beach so they could get away with charging a little more if people liked their fro-yo, they didn’t skimp too much on toppings, the toppings are fresh, they provide good service, etc. It might a location issue as well. I rarely go to North Beach because it’s crowded and parking is horrendous. Not only that, they’re not on the main streets (Columbus, Broadway) in that area, so it’s easy to forget that they’re in the area. How many of the people who live and work and that area are fro-yoholics?

Swirl Culture is no worse (and actually better than average in terms of flavor) than the other downtown SF fro-yo offerings. If they could offer validated parking, I would likely find myself there more often. They could also do more to build their community, their Culture Club. Their website says that the official site hasn’t be launched yet. They opened in late June and the site still isn’t launched???? They need to get their act together. The website should be used more as a promotion tool. It could at least list the fruity fro-yo flavor of the week, add testimonials, list upcoming events that SC is involved in, etc. Tuttimelon, Red Mango and other fro-yo shops have pages on Facebook and MySpace – those are low cost methods for promoting the shop and building a community of fans.

I’m not sure how their bonus card program has evolved. Initially the card only lasted for a month, so I wasn’t motivated to collect stamps. It’s just too much of a hassle for me to go to North Beach that often but if the card didn’t have an expiration date, I would hold onto it and possibly fill it up. Update: the frequent bonus card program is back. Buy 7, get 1 free.

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

* SWIRL CULTURE: 1400 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Top 10 Bay Area Fro-Yo Shops

Fro-yo girl here. Now that I’ve tried over 100 fro-yo shops, I’m often asked for recommendations. These are my top 10 Bay Area fro-yo shops:
· Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt (Palo Alto) – creamy & thick in texture, tastes natural with less sugar to mask that fro-yo flavor, organic fro-yo made from Straus and unique housemade toppings like brownies, chocolate meringues and seasonal granola - my cup of Culture yogurt is pictured above
· Café Delatti (Los Gatos) – every tart flavor tastes great, especially the mango tart, dense & creamy texture
· YoCup (Rincon Center, SF) – the most balanced fro-yo I’ve encountered in terms of flavor, texture, everything
· Tuttimelon (Irving St, SF) – extra sour and the best bargain in town, a small original is still 99 cents and they pack on the toppings like no other place I know of
· Caffe Ambrosia (SF) – natural and clean tasting plain tart, icy, soft and smooth
· Red Mango (Palo Alto) – not as tart as the others on the list but with a sophisticated subtle tang and an ultra creamy texture
· Harmony Yogurt (San Carlos) – dense and smooth, made with organic Straus Creamery yogurt, almost gelato like in consistency
· Yogurt Harmony (Berkeley) – rich, heavy and dense, four delicious tart flavors a day
· Yumi Yogurt (Redwood City) – best place for sweet fro-yo with the largest portions
· Poco Café (San Jose) – best place for mix-in yogurt, plain yogurt mixed with your choice of frozen fruit, chunky & tart

None of the self-serve shops made the cut. I’ve found higher quality, better tasting fro-yo at the non-self serve fro-yo shops.

I’m also asked how one person can eat so much fro-yo and not get sick of it. I can’t answer that question yet.

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