Menchie’s Captain Underpants Cups and Signs

Fro-yo girl here. I finally picked up my Captain Underpants Menchie’s cup, which features three characters from the book/movie. This new limited edition, collectible cup design is for DreamWorks’ Captain Underpants, The First Epic Movie. The movie is in theaters now. They didn’t come out with Captain Underpants froyo spoons (too bad). 

The shop had multiple Captain Underpants signs and a poster. Vanilla Snow is Captain Underpants’ favorite, while Harold’s favorite is Mudslide Pie.

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.

Jeni’s Calabasas Grand Opening

Fro-yo girl here. I went to Jeni’s Ice Creams grand opening in Calabasas last night, June 7. The shop opened a few days ago. It’s the fourth LA location (the others are Los Feliz, Venice, and Larchmont). Yes, Jeni’s is an ice cream shop but they make the most amazing frozen yogurt flavors with real cultured buttermilk, organic yogurt and cream. It’s rich, indulgent and bursting with flavor.

I wasn’t one of the first 50 people in line (LA traffic), so I’m not sure what was in the swag bag. Everyone was a winner though, because of free scoops.

The event was well organized with people managing the line and the number of people in the shop. There was even someone outside handing out free ice cream and sorbet samples. Once we reached the shorter line, we perused menus.

They have a passion for using small family farmers (often ones in Ohio, since that’s where they are based) and highest quality ingredients like biodynamic yogurt from Ohio producers. The flavors range from creative to classic, like Cream Puff, Gooey Butter Cake, Hard Cider Sorbet, Sweet Cream Biscuits & Peach Jam. They have chocolate, vanilla and cookies & cream too (but with fancier names like Ndali Estate Vanilla). The toppings, waffle cones and sauces are housemade.

* Mango buttermilk frozen yogurt: Tastes like a ripe mango but better, creamier, richer and more indulgent, a sweeter froyo

* Lemon & blueberries buttermilk frozen yogurt: Very tart, very lemony in flavor, rich, smooth and thick in texture, with some housemade blueberry jam but my scoop didn’t have much blueberry

I loved the extra thick, crispy housemade waffle cone. So good!

Prices: Single ($5.50), Trio of half scoops $6.50, pints are $12

The shop is shiny, new and adorable. Parking can be a challenge at the Commons Shopping Center.

They didn’t have the new Peach Lassi Buttermilk Frozen Yogurt. I’ll have to come back to try it and the other seasonal flavors.

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

* JENI’S ICE CREAMS: 4751 Commons Way, Ste A, Calabasas, CA 91302

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.

New Yogurtland Spoons: Watermelon and Mud Pie

Fro-yo girl here. Yogurtland started their new JOY Share the Fun promotion on Monday, June 5. It included two new froyo spoons, Watermelon and Mud Pie. The spoons represent two of the new JOY flavors.

These are the first new limited edition, collectible froyo spoons of 2017. This year has not been a good year for collectible froyo spoons so far; there have been more collectible froyo cup designs than collectible spoons.

The spoons are available at Yogurtland while supplies last.

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.

New Froyo Shakes at Menchie's

Fro-yo girl here. Select locations of Menchie’s recently added a new product, frozen yogurt shakes called Froyo Shakes. I think they started testing Froyo Shakes late last year and they recently expanded the number of stores that carry them.

I went to Menchie’s University in Encino, CA, the training center for Menchie’s. They had a sign for the Froyo Shakes. The associate gave me a clear cup which I filled with my choice of toppings, frozen yogurt and/or sorbet. It’s sold by weight like their frozen yogurt. After I filled my cup with the new Tropical Passion Fruit Sorbet, strawberries and pineapple chunks. He added milk to it and mixed it in the blending machine. It would be nice if they had an alternative milk option as well.

The milkshake tasted fine because I did really like the Tropical Passion Fruit sorbet. However, the blending didn’t seem to transform it. There were huge chunks of fruit in the bottom of my cup (too big for the fat straw that I was using). For some reason, the toppings hadn’t been blended into the sorbet. The fruit pieces were as large as they were before they were blended. Maybe I didn’t choose the right toppings or the machine wasn’t working properly?

I will say that I am a fan of Pinkberry's smoothies. They've always been made properly the few times that I've ordered them.

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.

New Yogurtland Joy Share the Fun Promotion

Fro-yo girl here. Yogurtland launched their new JOY promotion today. Sun Kissed Strawberry Shortcake frozen yogurt and Homegrown Watermelon Sorbet were released today. The promotion includes five new flavors (release dates below):

• Sun Kissed Strawberry Shortcake (June 5)
• Homegrown Watermelon Sorbet (June 5)
• Sweet N’ Smooth Peaches N’ Cream Gelato (June 19)
• Larger than Life Mud Pie (July 3) 
• Picnic Favorite Apricot Mango Tart (July 17)

Sun Kissed Strawberry Shortcake is a lowfat flavor that’s described as, “With real California strawberries and shortbread cookies, this is a flavor that is sure to please. Fruity bright strawberry with cake and whipped cream notes combine for a deliciously sweet treat!” It has shortcake cookie crumb and condensed milk. I found it to be very strawberry ice cream like. Recommended toppings: Nilla wafers, strawberry puree, almonds.

Homegrown Watermelon Sorbet is gluten free, dairy free and nonfat. It’s made with real watermelon. The flavor is described as, “A sweet, fresh and fruity flavor. Our new sorbet flavor is like biting into a fresh slice of watermelon at a hot summer picnic. It’s the perfect flavor to cool you down and keep you feeling refreshed!” I found it to be sweet, very sweet – even sweeter than I expected. Recommended toppings: Fresh pineapple for tang, popping boba.

The new Joy cups come in two sizes. The new toppings are multi-colored gummy butterflies. There are two new spoons, a brown spoon with a Mud Pie handle and a red spoon with a watermelon slice. I also received a coupon for 3 free ozs.

Promotional flavors, cups, spoons and toppings are available while supplies last.

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.

National Frozen Yogurt Month 2017: Reflections on Frozen Yogurt Trends

Fro-yo girl here. It’s June which means it’s the 24th annual National Frozen Yogurt Month. The first National Frozen Yogurt Month was declared by TCBY. National Frozen Yogurt Day is the first Sunday in June, or June 4, 2017. It’s also the time of year that I like to look at frozen yogurt trends.

Looking at Google Trends, one sees the continual slow decline in the number of searches for the term, frozen yogurt. The peak occurred in July 2013. The number of searches for frozen yogurt shows a cyclical pattern, with fewer searches during the winter months and localized peaks in the summer months.

Interestingly, the number of searches for the term "Greek yogurt" also peaked in 2013 and have been declining since. The search pattern there is different because the number of searches peaks in January, when people are presumably thinking about New Year’s resolutions like eating healthier. The number of searches for the term acai bowl is definitely on the rise though more so in Australia than in the US.

It's interesting to look at the searches by region. The top 5 countries by interest in frozen yogurt are #1. United States, #2. Canada, #3. Denmark, #4. Greece and #5. Australia. These were also the top five countries last June though tiny Denmark (population 5.676 million) has overtaken Greece (population 10.82 million). The two most popular related queries were “yogurt near me” and “frozen yogurt near me.” Consumers are clearly looking for frozen yogurt shop locations. A couple of years ago, they were searching for Pinkberry but now they're searching for Menchie's.

Everyone that I’ve spoken to has mentioned the number of frozen yogurt store closures. I’ve seen many frozen yogurt stores that didn’t have anything unique to offer. Even some frozen yogurt chains lack personality. This is the time that the shops that survive should be sure that they have established a distinct brand identity and that they’ve actively cultivated the loyalty of their customers. It’s a good time to emphasize product quality and customer service. In the end, the places that I want to return to are the higher quality shops. I’d like to see healthier options (lower sugar) too. Places like Yoga-urt in Glendale, CA, Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt in San Francisco, CA and Culture in New York that make frozen yogurt in small batches, from scratch.

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 June Flavors: Chocolate Caramel Biscuit and Tropical Passion Fruit Sorbet

Fro-yo girl here. Happy June! Menchie’s has two new feature flavors this month, Chocolate Caramel Biscuit made with Twix and Tropical Passion Fruit Sorbet made with real passion fruit juice from Ecuador. Both flavors are made without artificial flavors. Twix joins the long list of candy bar flavors created by Menchie’s (e.g., Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch, Whoppers, Andes, Heath, Hershey’s Kisses, M&Ms, Kit Kat, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups).

* Chocolate Caramel Biscuit made with Twix: Very rich and creamy, I think it’s full fat. The milk chocolate flavor dominated but the caramel gave it a distinctive sweetness. Recommended toppings: almonds, Nilla wafers, brownies

* Tropical Passion Fruit Sorbet: I usually don’t like sorbets but I liked this one a lot because it was quite tangy and had that distinctive passion fruit flavor, also the texture wasn’t too icy. Recommended toppings: pineapples, strawberries, popping boba

They also have a new limited edition, collectible cup design featuring DreamWorks’ Captain Underpants, The First Epic Movie. The shop didn’t have the cups during my visit but I saw some Captain Underpants signs.

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.