Edible Arrangements: Froyo Fruit Blends Review

Fro-yo girl here. Earlier this summer, Edible Arrangements introduced the Edible to Go concept. Edible to Go includes new menu items: design your own fresh fruit smoothies with add-ins, frozen hot chocolate smoothies, fruit salad, chocolate dipped fruit cones and “froyo fruit blends.”

Froyo fruit blends start with a base of non-fat Tahitian vanilla frozen yogurt which is blended with your choice of fresh fruit puree and topped with your choice of fresh fruit. The classic blend is $4.99. The indulgent blend ($5.99) adds hot fudge, whipped cream and chopped almonds.

I’ve never been to an Edible Arrangements (fruit arrangements seem silly to me) but I noticed a poster with a picture of frozen yogurt, so it was time for a visit.

I was surprised by the lack of options for the froyo fruit blends. For fruit purees, they only had strawberry and pineapple (sometimes blueberry is available). For fresh cut fruit they had pineapple, strawberry, cantaloupe, honeydew, blueberry, banana, kiwi, mango and watermelon. For the base, there’s just Tahitian vanilla frozen yogurt which has corn syrup, artificial vanilla, and maltodextrin.

The vanilla yogurt was super sweet and very soft (even before it was blended with the fruit puree). The fruit puree is blended with the vanilla yogurt by holding the cup under the Vitamix blender. The strawberry flavor was not strong and the texture was way too soft. It also melted very quickly. I wasn’t impressed with the fresh fruit either. The strawberries were sour and the blueberries weren’t that flavorful.

They describe their yogurt as all-natural but the ingredients show that it is not all natural. It tastes like super sweet ice cream flavored with artificial vanilla.

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

2 out of 5 stars

* EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS: 452 E Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

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.

Noosa Yoghurt New Sweet Heat Flavors Review

Fro-yo girl here. I started seeing teaser ads about new flavors from Noosa on Twitter recently. The new flavors are part of the new “sweet heat” collection: Raspberry Habanero, Pineapple Jalapeno, Mango Sweet Chili, Blackberry Serrano, Mexican Chocolate (4 oz 4 packs only) and Bhakti Chai (limited batch).

I’ve looked for all the new flavors at Vons, Sprouts, Target, Whole Foods, and Gelson’s. I haven’t spotted Raspberry Habanero or Mango Sweet Chili yet. Target had the best selection of Noosa flavors.

* Blackberry serrano: The blackberry compote is on the bottom, so you can blend it in as much as you’d like. The yogurt smells like serrano chilies and it tastes like serrano chilies too. It’s spicier than I expected but of course yogurt is cooling, so it can handle some heat. The yogurt is thick and velvety. The blackberry compote had blackberry seeds and though the seeds were hard, they added a nice texture. The flavor is definitely different, sweet yet spicy, but it’s really good and it’s still mostly sweet. One serving has 36g of sugar and 300 calories.

* Pineapple jalapeno: This was a pretty spicy and pretty sweet yogurt as well. The pineapple flavor is also strong. This is one flavorful cup of yogurt. I liked the blackberry serrano flavor better. I liked the tartness of the blackberry.

* Bhakti chai (limited batch): Unlike the other Noosa flavors, there is no compote. It looks like they poured a cup of Bhakti Chai on top of their honey sweetened yogurt. The honey flavor seemed more pronounced than usual and the warm spices included cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and clove (possibly others). It’s very sweet but the yogurt is still tangy. The texture is rich, creamy and smooth. One serving has 11g fat, 34g of sugar, 300 calories and 8 ozs.

The Noosa yogurts are very flavorful and velvety but they’re also very sweet. I do like the unusual flavors and I hope to find all the flavors in the near future.

I found Noosa on sale at Target for $2. The regular price is $2.39-$2.59.

4.5 out of 5 stars

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.

Yogurtland Azusa Guest Appreciation Event

Fro-yo girl here. I think of Yogurtland’s National Frozen Yogurt Day promotion with free froyo as Yogurtland’s guest appreciation event but some locations have additional guest appreciation events. Yogurtland Azusa held its guest appreciation event today, September 10. The event included:

• 11 AM – 2 PM: Free yogurt and toppings
• 3 PM – 5 PM: Face painting and balloon animals for kids
• 5 PM – 7 PM: Free prizes
• 7 PM – midnight: Buy one, get one free

There was a line before Yogurtland opened and the doors opened a little early. Each guest received a mini cup which could be filled as much as he/she desired. Most of the attendees seemed to have received the mailer that went out to area residents.

The event was well organized and the line went quickly. Each person was handed a napkin, spoon and coupons for future visits. Kids received Yogurtland balloons.

Free froyo = happiness. Thank you Yogurtland Azusa! There's still a little time to take advantage of the buy one, get one free offer.

* YOGURTLAND AZUSA: 922 E Alosta Ave., Azusa, CA 91702

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.

Yogurtland’s 10th Anniversary Flavors, Spoon and Fundraiser

Fro-yo girl here. Happy anniversary, Yogurtland! Yogurtland is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year by giving back. Yogurtland Cares, which is Yogurtland’s charitable arm, announced that it would collect donations for local children’s hospitals. Every dollar raised will go directly to the hospitals and Yogurtland will also host yogurt parties for patients, their families and hospital staff. Last year they held a similar fundraiser for local children’s hospitals. Donations will be accepted at Yogurtland locations from September 9 - October 19.

To help celebrate their tenth anniversary, Yogurtland is also bringing back three of its most popular flavors: Birthday Cupcake Batter (Sept. 9), Pineapple Sorbet (Sept. 23), and Almond Midnight Mocha (Oct. 7). Birthday Cupcake Batter is in shops now. The flavor was created in honor of Yogurtland’s 6th anniversary/birthday back in 2012.

For Yogurtland’s fifth anniversary, they introduced their first purple spoon. For the tenth anniversary, there’s a new magenta spoon with the Yogurtland logo on the top of the handle. The spoon says Yogurtland 10th Anniversary.

“Some of the hospitals benefiting from the Yogurtland fundraiser include Rady Children’s Hospital (San Diego, Calif.), Children’s Hospital of Orange County (Orange, Calif.), Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Cottage Children’s Hospital (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Lauren Small Children’s Medical Center (Bakersfield, Calif.), Valley Children’s Hospital (Fresno, Calif.) Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (Salinas, Calif.), UC Davis Children’s Hospital (Sacramento, Calif.), UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital (San Francisco), St. Rose Dominican Hospital (Henderson, Nev.), Phoenix Children’s Hospital (Phoenix, AZ), Children’s Hospital Colorado (Denver, Colo.), Seattle Children’s Hospital (Seattle, Wash.), Primary Children’s Hospital (Salt Lake City, Utah), Children’s Medical Center of Dallas (Dallas, TX) and Miami Children’s Hospital (Miami, FL).”

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.

Benton’s Oats & Yogurt Sandwich Biscuits

Fro-yo girl here. I was pleasantly surprised to find Benton’s Oats & Yogurt Vanilla sandwich biscuits while shopping at Aldi. While I only saw the vanilla flavor, they did offer a strawberry version before. A box has 6 packs with 2 biscuits per pack. A box is $1, a bargain.

* Vanilla oats & yogurt sandwich biscuits: The biscuits (cookies) were thick, firm, crunchy and less sweet than I expected. They tasted healthy in a good way – like oats and whole wheat. Think McVitie’s digestive biscuits and BelVita. The filling was creamy and much sweeter. It did have some yogurt flavor but no tartness. The flavor was pleasant. The biscuit sandwiches look very similar to Quaker’s Oat & Yogurt sandwich biscuits, but I’ve never had those so I can’t make a direct comparison. They’re heartier than the typical cookie and not as sweet. I wish I could convince myself that they’re healthy because they are good.

One serving is equal to 2 biscuits, 180 calories, 10g of whole grains, 7g of total fat, 26g of carbs, and 10g of sugar. The sandwich biscuits are a product of the Netherlands.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

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.

626 Night Market Dessert Trends Report

Fro-yo girl here. I returned to the 626 Night Market, “the original and largest Asian-themed night market in the United States” with some friends during Labor Day weekend. They changed the layout again (the food trucks were outside in the parking lot) and they seemed to have as many vendors as ever, including plenty of new ones. The art section was much smaller though. 

The 626 Night Market is a showcase for new Asian food trends. This year some new foods included rainbow grilled cheese, cute bentos, cotton candy topped with bacon or a soft shell crab, shot glass cookies filled with milk and sushi donuts.

There were more Thai rolled ice cream and churros vendors than ever (ice cream rolls and churros were already at the 626 Night Market last year). The Blue Nova, SoCal's first ice cream rolls truck, just launched. Drinks continued to be very popular. Main Squeeze started the light up bottle trend last year. This year the drinks came in light bulb shapes with a mini lightbulb light) and giant light up baby bottles.

Desserts included fried ice cream, potted ice cream, fish waffles filled with soft serve, snow ice, Hawaiian shaved ice, churros (with ice cream), cronut ice cream sandwiches, cookie shot glasses filled with milk, Hong Kong egg waffles, funnel cakes, ice cream rolls, liquid nitrogen ice cream, grass jelly, dessert tofu, milkshakes, halo halo, and cotton candy.

While I didn’t see any froyo, A+ Tea House did offer yogurt drinks. The rolled ice cream places only had ice cream. Last year one place, Snow House, Tea Bar had strawberry froyo rolls. The trends didn’t seem as innovative this year. The only one that surprised me was the cotton candy topped with a soft shell crab from Cap’n Crispy. I wish they had higher end vendors like Sul & Beans, Honeymee or Beeline.

The 626 Night Market will presumably return next summer (given how popular it is, it should be back). Free parking. Admission is $3.

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.

Menchie’s New Nescafe Coffee Flavors & Storks Promotion

Fro-yo girl here. It’s the beginning of a new month and several new things are going on at Menchie’s. First, there are two new coffee flavors, made with Nescafe: Vanilla Latte and Caramel Frappe. Second, they’re promoting a new animated Warner Bros. movie called STORKS which has a US release date of September 23.
New flavors:

• Vanilla Latte made with Nescafe: The coffee note is definitely there and it’s much stronger than the vanilla note. It has a familiar flavor (I guess because I’ve had Nescafe), like instant coffee. The texture is smooth but not that creamy for some reason. There isn’t any real yogurt flavor. This is a lowfat flavor.
• Caramel Frappe made with Nescafe: The coffee flavor is not as strong as in the Vanilla Latte but it’s still pleasant like a sweet caramel macchiato drink. The caramel flavor is warm and not overwhelming. It’s also smooth but not that creamy. There isn’t any real yogurt flavor. This is a lowfat flavor.

Recommended toppings: Both of these flavors are great covered in chopped almonds.

STORKS limited edition printed cups are available while supplies last. Some of the froyo flavors had STORKS signs. The Baby’s favorite flavor is Vanilla Snow and Junior’s favorite flavor is Chocolate Dunked Banana.

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.