Soy Froyo, Wherefore Art Thou?

Fro-yo girl here. Did you know that April is National Soy Foods Month? This is the month to celebrate the soybean and it made me miss soy frozen yogurt all the more. Anti-soy sentiment has been around for years, probably because most domestic soybean crops are genetically modified. But, there isn’t strong evidence that GMO-soybeans are harmful. In fact, soy has many health benefits. Soy is a complete protein that’s low in saturated fat. It may reduce levels of LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol), diabetes risk and the risk of some types of cancer.

Years ago, Loving Cup in San Francisco offered a soy base option for their hand-mixed froyo. But, since soy fell out of favor, they switched to a banana base and the last time I went, the vegan option was coconut based. Fraiche used to have a soy froyo but all their locations have closed, except for the one at SFO International Airport. Also, I think they switched to making vegan froyo using almond milk.

Tutti Frutti and 16 Handles are the only sizeable chains that have introduced soy froyo. Tutti Frutti may still offer soy froyo but I haven’t seen it there for years.

These are the places where you can still get soy froyo.

1. 16 Handles introduced its first soy flavor in 2014, Yo Soy Vanilla, followed by Yo Soy Chocolate. I’m not sure how often it’s offered now, especially since they’ve gone on to introduce other types of dairy-free froyo, including almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, and oat milk (new in 2020).
2. 21 Choices Frozen Yogurt (Claremont & Pasadena, CA): The soy froyo is made with organic soy milk and their flavors are all made in-house. Soy froyo is sometimes offered. Even if it isn’t there, they always have a dairy-free option. I like their peanut butter soy froyo.
3. Bishco (Gloucester, MA) is a cafe that also serves mix in froyo, including tofu froyo.
4. Cafe 472 (Boston, MA) serves pizza, sandwiches, salads, and froyo, including tofu frozen yogurt.
5. Cafe Podima (Boston, MA) is a pizza restaurant that also serves froyo. Tofu froyo is listed on the menu.
6. Chil (London, ON, Canada) claims to have Canada’s largest selection of froyo toppings and vegan froyo, had soy froyo but I’m not sure if they still offer it. They also have vegan froyo made with almond milk, oat milk, and quinoa milk. The single location is self-serve.
7. Citra (Seattle, WA) in Seattle’s University District has dairy-based froyo but it’s the soy froyo that gets the rave reviews. Try your froyo with snow ice.
8. Frozen By a Thousand Blessings (Australia), the first froyo shop in Australia to use biodynamic milk and yoghurt, offers two vegan soy-based flavors, Mango & Soy and Soy Strawberry. The froyo is self-serve.
9. Humphrey Yogart (Sherman Oaks, CA): Humphrey Yogart has been serving up old school mix in style froyo since 1984. They moved across the parking lot and into Gelson’s in 2016 but they brought their organic soy base option for mix in froyo with them. I like their matcha froyo that’s made with imported Japanese matcha powder.
10. Kushco Bistro (Salem, MA) is another greater Boston eatery that carries tofu froyo with mix-ins. I'm sensing a pattern here. Bishco and Kushco sound so similar. 
11. Moochie (Belgium) is a counter serve froyo chain that according to Happy Cow, offers vegan soy froyo. There’s even proof in the form of a picture.
12. Tutti Frutti (worldwide) started offering soybean frozen yogurt in 2012. The soybean froyo is made with non-GMO, US grown soybeans. Their range of 19 soy froyo flavors is the widest I’ve seen. Some of the soy flavors are Spiced Cake, Red Bean, Latte, Black Sesame, and Taro. And 10% of the sales go to the Real Green Project to help fight childhood hunger. I noticed that many Tutti Frutti locations don’t carry any soy flavors though. Tutti Frutti La Crescenta used to on a regular basis but then they closed (and moved). I haven’t been going to the new location, so I’m not sure how often they carry soy froyo.
13. Yo-Chi (Australia) is a self-serve froyo mini chain that sometimes offers a soy-based froyo. Banana Soybean is one of their soy flavors.
14. Yo-Get-It (Australia, China) has a variety of soy froyo flavors and a self-serve format. Soy froyo flavors include Banana, Chai, Mango, Passionfruit, and Wildberry.
15. YOMARO (Germany) offers a vegan soy froyo that gets good reviews, along with the vegan bubble waffles.
16. YOMG (Australia) started as a self-serve froyo shop and expanded into burgers. Their vegan soy froyo flavors include banana soy cinnamon and soy chai. They even have vegan burgers and vegan waffle cones.
17. Yumorama (Mexico) is a self-serve froyo chain that has a soy froyo option that’s also free of added sugars

Even though it isn’t froyo, I did want to give a shout out to the tofu flower soft serve at Big Softee in Monterey Park, CA. If you like tofu pudding, Big Softee’s version has the ginger syrup and flavor of tofu/soy milk that you’ll recognize. Uji Time has tofu soft serve too, but it isn’t as good as Big Softee’s.

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.

2018 Froyo Wish List

Fro-yo girl here. It’s time for my annual froyo wish list. First, let's see if any of my 2017 wishes came true. Last year I wished for:

* Pinkberry Pops: They’re now available in UAE, KSA, Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey. I would love to try one without traveling to the Middle East!

Update: They started selling Pinkberry Pops at the Pinkberry in Toronto, Canada, Ghana, and Panama. So, the Pinkberry Pops are getting closer though they’re still far away. Why aren’t these available in the US? You can even get Hong Kong waffles at Pinkberry Toronto and Pinkberry Ghana, but not the US. I love Hong Kong waffles but they seem more popular in Europe than in the US.

* Llaollao: Llaollao seems to be everywhere (e.g., Russia, Slovenia, Cambodia, Uruguay, Chile, El Salvador) except North America.

Update: Llaollao continues to expand but they’re still not in the US.

* Menchie’s should add the flavor finder feature on the Menchie’s My Smileage mobile app. I’d like easy access to list of flavors carried by specific Menchie’s locations.

Update: I didn’t notice any changes to the Menchie’s app. It doesn’t serve much purpose, so I rarely use it. At least Pinkberry finally fixed their app. Their website doesn't have a flavor finder either. Why do they make it so difficult to find out the flavors that each store carries???

* More Daphne’s Greek locations should be converted to their new concept, Yalla: I’d like a closer Yalla so that I can get my Greek froyo w/ baklava fix on a regular basis.

Update: Yalla didn’t open new locations and the portions of their food and froyo have shrunk. My guess is that’s their way of dealing with rising costs. Other places have started offering baklava as a froyo topping. Kentro in Fullerton isn’t any closer and Spread didn’t have any baklava during my last visit.

Well, I didn't have much luck with my 2017 froyo wishes and I'm not too optimistic about 2018's wishes either.

Here’s my froyo wish list for 2018:

* More soy froyo (or tofu soft serve). While there seems to be an anti-soy sentiment in the air, I love the flavor of soy. I’m hoping to see tofu soft serve. Tofu soft serve is popular in Japan and other parts of Asia. I did find tofu soft serve at Uji Time in San Francisco but not in Southern California. I also tried the soy soft serve at Sumo Dog in LA but it was too sweet.

* Bring back the tart. I’d love to see a Yogurtland promotion for just tart froyo flavors. Froyo, why have you become so sweet? I miss the old days of froyo wave two when froyo flavors were mostly tart. I miss green tea tart. 

* More Halloween froyo spoons. I imagine Menchie’s is the best candidate to offer more Halloween froyo spoons. No one else has come out with custom Halloween froyo spoons. It was a slow year for collectible froyo spoons in general.

* Good bubble waffles: They're surprisingly hard to find and I love them. I'm sure that I'd love them with froyo. They've become so popular in other countries (Canada, UK, Germany, Russia). I live in an area with a high concentration of Chinese and I can't find good bubble waffles. So strange.

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.

21 Choices Frozen Yogurt Pasadena – It’s Back

Fro-yo girl here. Pasadena froyo eaters, the day you’ve been waiting here has finally arrived. After ten long months, during which their building was being seismically retrofitted, 21 Choices has reopened as of today, April 22, 2017. The marble slabs aren’t working though, so they’re only doing soft serves this weekend.

The opening flavors are:

• French vanilla
• Old school chocolate
• Simply yogurt (plain tart)
• Princess peach 
• Circus animal cookie
• Nutella malt
• (Non-dairy) Peanut butter pretzel: Made with natural peanut butter, pretzels, chocolate chips and organic soy milk
• Root beer float

I like getting the soy milk non-dairy soft serve when it’s available. It’s one of the few places to get soy based froyo. Their peanut butter flavors are great too.

The interior looked similar to what I remember. Mix-ins will be available this Tuesday.

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

* 21 CHOICES: 85 W Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105

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.

Light Up Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt Spoons

Fro-yo girl here. New froyo spoons arrived at the Tutti Frutti in La Crescenta, CA a few weeks ago: THE SPOONS LIGHT UP. I’ve never seen light up spoons before. The new froyo spoons are amazing. They were available in four colors: Red, green, blue, and yellow. By the time I found out about the spoons there were only a few left. I bought the last ones. They aren’t sure if they’ll be getting any more.

Each spoon has a battery. Twist the top to activate the light. The spoons are extra long and transparent. They’re topped with a round flat disc with the Tutti Frutti logo.

The spoons were 50 cents each or free with a $10 purchase.

On a sad note, the soy bean froyo they used to carry is gone...apparently it wasn't popular. Both Mr. Froyo and I enjoyed it. We love the taste of soy.

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.

Milky’s: Innovative Fro-yo Shop Spotlight

Fro-yo girl here. While there are other kosher fro-yo places out there, including large fro-yo chains like Red Mango, Menchie’s and Tutti Frutti, Milky’s takes it one step further, offering 14 dairy and 4 kosher parve vegan self-serve fro-yo flavors a day. All their fro-yo and toppings are kosher but some are also parve and vegan. The vegan “fro-yo” is made with soy milk.

Plenty of toppings are kosher, including cheesecake bites, cookie dough, coconut, cereal, candy, nuts, sprinkles, cookies, chocolate chips and syrups, but not mochi.
I tried the simply tart (original fro-yo) and the original vegan fro-yo. Simply tart was soft, creamy, smooth and thick. I liked the sour, real fro-yo flavor. The original vegan soy fro-yo was a pleasant surprise. It was sweeter than I expected but also had a pleasant, mild tang. I could definitely taste the soy. It was icier than the simply tart but still smooth.

The prices differ (39 cents an ounce for non-vegan, 45 cents an ounce for parve/vegan) so if you want the vegan flavors, use a separate cup.

Sample cups are easily accessible and the toppings are labeled so you can easily identify which ones are parve. It’s a modern looking café with cute cups, a cat mascot, and free wi-fi. The cup was so cute that I saved it. I noticed the sign said smoothies but I didn’t see a smoothies menu.

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

* MILKY'S FROZEN YOGURT: 1429 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035

2009: The Fro-yo Year in Review

Fro-yo girl here. Back in January 2008, I developed my wish list for 2009. Most of my wishes had come true by June 2009. Here’s a look back at what I wished for and what actually happened.

* Soy fro-yo: Not much has changed. It’s still offered by Fraiche but hasn’t caught on. WholeSoy & Co. offers pints of organic soy fro-yo at health food supermarkets but I haven’t seen it yet: http://www.wholesoyco.com/product_frozen.html and it doesn’t come in any tart flavors
* Kefir fro-yo: Culture offered it a few times but not for long. Apparently it didn’t agree with their fro-yo machines. Starfruit Café in Chicago added a second location in 2009.
* New fro-yo flavors: There was much progress in this area from all over the world. In the Bay Area, Blush introduced the first organic cookies n’ cream flavor, along with guava and pina colada. Tuttimelon launched many new flavors including passionfruit, coconut, guava, and almond. Pinkberry added passionfruit, coconut, and chocolate. Red Mango added pumpkin spice and the unique Tangomonium. Sadly, some unique flavors like Chill Café’s Red Tea are no longer available.
* Mochi at Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt: I’m very frustrated that they still don’t have mochi. It’s almost unforgivable. I know that they aren’t like other fro-yo shops but mochi is my favorite fro-yo topping.
* More homemade mochi all over: This really happened at places like Sweet Orchid in Fremont, Coco Swirl, Hello Desserts, Yogurtastic, and Fraiche. And flavored mochi became fairly common.
* Tuttimelon’s growth continues: Tuttimelon continues to be the largest fro-yo player in the Bay Area, expanding into almost every SF neighborhood, the South Bay, Peninsula, East Bay, Asia, and Canada. Most of the new locations are self-serve.
* Fro-yo at Target and Trader Joe’s: Trader Joe’s offers frozen tart fro-yo. Target carries Ben & Jerry’s fro-yo.
* Tart fro-yo in your local supermarket freezer section: Trader Joe’s, Dreyer’s, Haagen Daaz and Cefiore answered the call for supermarket tart fro-yo.

I’m fairly happy with 2009 because most people in the Bay Area can now get fro-yo without driving too far and fro-yo shops keep on opening. There were also unexpected surprises like my new collection of Yogurtland spoons.

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

Fro-Yo Girl's Wish List for 2009

Fro-yo girl here. A new year of fro-yo is upon us accompanied as usual with hopes and dreams for a better future. What does fro-yo girl wish for? Let’s see.

• Soy fro-yo: It already exists but is hard to find. Soy milk is mainstream now and there are plenty of lactose intolerant individuals. I’m not lactose intolerant but I love soy milk.
• Kefir fro-yo: The new Starfruit in Chicago offers kefir fro-yo. I’m definitely intrigued.
• New fro-yo flavors: I hope more fro-yo shops follow the example set by Culture and Chill by coming up with new fro-yo flavors. I’m hoping for two flavors in particular: honey and Meyer lemon.
• Mochi at Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt: Everyone knows that I love Culture and its homemade toppings but I still miss my mochi balls. I also wish I didn’t have to drive 40 miles for their fro-yo.
• More homemade mochi all over: What can I say, mochi balls are my favorite fro-yo topping. Maybe some place will even offer moffles (mochi waffles)?
• Tuttimelon’s growth continues: Tuttimelon already has the most locations in the Bay Area (5 in 2008) and there are 9 more on the way (for now). I’m all for the world domination of Tuttimelon!
• Fro-yo at Target and Trader Joe’s: They carry yogurt parfaits and are responsive to trends. Adding fro-yo wouldn’t be so difficult.
• Tart fro-yo in your local supermarket freezer section. There’s a real market opportunity here that I’m sure someone will see and pursue in 2009.

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

Fro-ggie Coupon Good Till 12/31/08, Soy Fro-yo

Here's a link to a site with a coupon for Fro-ggie. Get one free topping, good till the end of the year:

http://www.ci.fremont.ca.us/Business/ShopFremont/Coupons.htm

Fro-ggie is one of the only places in the Bay Area that offers soy fro-yo. Fraiche in Palo Alto also has soy fro-yo. I'm surprised that soy fro-yo is so rare since lactose intolerance is common and soy milk has gained popularity among the same segment of consumers who are likely to favor fro-yo. There are several brands of soy frozen yogurt in the supermarket frozen foods section. I'd love to see a fro-yo shop open that only offered soy-based fro-yo. Soy Yo? Soyriffic?

* FROGGIE: 1554 Washington Blvd, Fremont, CA 94539
* FRAICHE: 644 Emerson, Suite 110, Palo Alto, CA 94301