New Flavor: Chocolate Churro Pinkberry

Fro-yo girl here. Churro lovers, rejoice. Pinkberry introduced Cinnamon Churro froyo on May 1st and today they launched the chocolate version, Chocolate Churro.

Chocolate Churro is described as “sweet and creamy with the irresistible taste of churro smothered in chocolate.” It has a lot of cinnamon in it and a lot of chocolate. I didn’t taste the pastry element much. The texture was soft, smooth and lighter than ice cream. It was fairly sweet by froyo standards but not as sweet as the real thing.

Recommended toppings: Dark chocolate crisps, chocolate chips, cinnamon crumble, Nutella, almonds, M&Ms, Almond Roca

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.

Souvla: Frozen Greek Yogurt at a Greek Restaurant

Fro-yo girl here. Why don’t more Greek restaurants offer froyo? And why aren’t more of them casual quick serve spots? Souvla opened a few months ago in the Hayes Valley neighborhood in San Francisco and it’s been praised by many publications for its food (spit fired all natural meats are their specialty) and dessert. It’s a casual spot where you order up front and sit at communal tables. What’s for dessert? Greek frozen yogurt of course.

Souvla keeps it simple when it comes to frozen yogurt. I think that’s part of the reason it’s so good.

The froyo, which is their own recipe, comes in one flavor (plain) and one size. You have your choice of Greek toppings: sour cherry syrup, baklava crumbles, honey, or olive oil with sea salt. It comes in a cute Greek paper cup (like a coffee cup).

* Frozen Greek yogurt with baklava crumbles and (honey) syrup ($5): The texture is smooth, creamy and airier (whipped)…reminiscent of Yogorino. It’s probably not nonfat…The froyo wasn’t sour and only mildly tangy but it did have less sugar so it tasted more natural and more like Greek yogurt. The aftertaste was clean and slightly sweet. The honey syrup wasn’t too sweet either. And the baklava crumbles, oh the baklava crumbles – yummy chewy morsels of nutty, cinnamon deliciousness. I’ll have to come back to try the other toppings.

I asked someone walking down Hayes about his froyo…he said it was extremely sour. I didn’t find it sour but compared to other froyo it’s less sweet. It’s a perfect dessert for strolling around Hayes Valley.

I’m hoping to try GRK in NYC which also has Greek frozen yogurt (and theirs is imported from Greece). Stay open till I get there, please.

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

* SOUVLA, 517 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102

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.

Free Yogurtland Froyo, Thanks Wescom Credit Union

Fro-yo girl here. Just when I think I couldn’t possibly eat any more froyo this week, Wescom Credit Union announces a free froyo giveaway as part of their #WescomKindness campaign. It’s not just any froyo either; I can’t say no to free Yogurtland.

Over 20 Yogurtland locations in Los Angeles and Orange County took part in the free froyo promotion. Guests could get as much froyo and toppings as they wanted until $2,000 worth of froyo was served at each location. How’s that for generosity? That’s a lot of free froyo (and toppings).

While I ate my free froyo (describe what kind) I made sure to mentally thank Wescom Credit Union for its random act of generosity. I also donated to a children’s hospital again. Yogurtland’s campaign gives 100% of the donated amount to local children’s hospitals. #‎YogurtlandCares ‪#‎HospitalsHelpingLocalKids

You can also win a $100 Wescom Visa Gift Card by telling Wescom about an act of kindness you’ve done for someone else. One hundred winners will be selected and each winner can select a non-profit organization that Wescom supports and Wescom will make a $100 donation to that organization.

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.

Breakfast at Yogurtland

Fro-yo girl here. Breakfast at Yogurtland? Yogurtland is currently testing a variety of new products. The Yogurtland Lakewood, CA location started serving breakfast since February 2015. Yogurtland’s Jeffrey location (14775 Jeffrey Rd., Ste. J) in Irvine, CA started serving breakfast on May 20. Soon, the Yogurtland location in Fullerton, CA (501 N State College Blvd.) will also offer breakfast. The "breakfast" items are available all day. Yogurtland Lakewood opens at 7 AM. Yogurtland Irvine opens at 9 AM.

New items include freshly squeezed juice, Fresh-Yo fresh yogurt, yogurt parfaits, Illy coffee, build your own acai bowls and pastries. The pastries are the Croiffle (croissant and waffle combo) and the Cinnaffle (cinnamon roll and waffle combo). Other pastries included butter croissants, strawberry croissants (croissants with pastry cream and fresh strawberries), Danish, and Danish bites.

The prices varied by location. In Lakewood, the Croiffle and Cinnafle are $2.50 each but sold by weight if you want to add froyo and toppings.

Fresh-Yo comes in two varieties that are dispensed from a machine (you press a button to dispense the yogurt): Greek plain yogurt and classic vanilla yogurt. You can add toppings if you’d like. The texture of both flavors seemed similar (I was expecting the Greek yogurt to be thicker). The vanilla doesn’t have an intense vanilla flavor and it’s not too sweet. The plain Greek isn’t sweetened so it has a sour flavor.

The Acai is in a machine – pull the handle to dispense. The acai blend has pear, blueberry, banana, blackberry and strawberry. I don’t eat bananas so I couldn’t really judge it.

The Croiffle is a butter croissant that’s been made into a waffle. It was soft, buttery and good with a dipping sauce. The Cinnaffle was much more substantial – a cinnamon roll pressed in a waffle iron. It’s heavy, dense and chewy. I liked how it wasn’t iced. The Cinnaffle had a generous amount of cinnamon and I liked the hint of orange. It was difficult to eat with the fork and knife because it was so thick, dense and chewy. The Croiffles and Cinnaffles are already made. You can ask to have yours heated.

The Cinnaffle, Croiffle and strawberry croissants looked different in Irvine. The Cinnafle had a dusting of cinnamon sugar (the one in Lakewood did not) and the croissants looked flakier. Also, the Irvine location smelled like fresh baked goods, the Lakewood location did not.

You can top any of the new pastries with frozen yogurt, yogurt or acai. They had new sauces: honey, cookie butter, marshmallow, chocolate hazelnut, peanut butter and salted caramel, plus new fruit purees (e.g., cherry, blueberry, peach, strawberry) in squeeze bottles.

The new refrigerated case had bottle drinks like Zico coconut water, Illy coffee, Honest Tea, San Pellegrino and Yogurtland’s new juices. The juices are made on site and come in four varieties: Green Thumb (apple, pineapple, orange, spinach, kale banana), Carrot Patch (carrot, pineapple, orange, lime), Beet Box (apple, carrot, pineapple, beet, spinach, kale), Berry& Banana (apple, strawberry, carrot, banana, blueberry). It’s $3.50 for 12 ounces. The juices are not cold pressed so they’re chunkier/have more texture and fiber.

I loved the new blue Yogurtland forks and knives.

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.

Rite Aid’s Fresh Day Café Offers “Thrifty Frozen Yogurt”

Fro-yo girl here. I recently learned that one remodeled Rite Aid location has self-serve froyo. The Rite Aid in Hollywood Hills (7900 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046) features a premium beauty department, larger pharmacy department and the Fresh Day Café. The Fresh Day Café offers Thrifty’s Ice Cream (by the scoop), Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf beverages, fresh baked goods and self-serve frozen yogurt. Ask for sample cups at the Fresh Day Café counter.

There are eight flavors to choose from plus a decent toppings bar for 49 cents an ounce. They also had a sorbet and no sugar added flavor. The frozen yogurt is from Dannon and they’re using Stoelting machines. Toppings include cookies, candy, sprinkles, cereal, nuts, fruit (looked like frozen and canned fruit), popping boba, cheesecake, mochi, coconut, gluten free granola (!) and syrups (kept by the register). The frozen yogurt ingredients and nutritional information were posted.

There were some textural problems with the yogurt (Euro Tart was overly icy and gritty) but they weren’t too bad. The Country Vanilla was rich, creamy, smooth and decadent.

Rite Aid Hollywood Hills started offering self-serve froyo in January 2015. The flagship Rite Aid location in Beverly Hills (300 North Canon Dr.), which already has a Fresh Day Café, will be getting self-serve frozen yogurt as well.

I like how Rite Aid’s frozen yogurt is sold by the ounce vs. Walgreen’s flat rate pricing for frozen yogurt and toppings because you don’t feel compelled to get more than you really want. Rite Aid’s frozen yogurt and toppings are better than Walgreen’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.

Loop Neighborhood: A New Kind of Convenience Store, Featuring Froyo (and Free Wi-fi)

Fro-yo girl here. Meet Loop – a new kind of convenience store. Loop opened its first location in Santa Clara, CA in June 2013 and now has a dozen locations in Northern California. Additional locations are on the way, including one on Hickey Blvd. in Daly City (currently under construction).

The Loop seeks to redefine your local convenience store by offering healthier options, including organic, natural and gluten free products. The Loop has a modern, sleek design with white and orange as the color scheme and encourages people to linger and enjoy free wi-fi, a cup of froyo, fresh pastries, and espresso drinks. They carry things like kale chips, roasted seaweed snacks and bubble bath.

The Loop location that I visited was at a Shell gas station. 

The froyo station consisted of two Electro Freeze soft serve machines, each carrying two flavors with the twist option. The froyo is from Dannon YoCream. A small toppings bar on the side offered 14 options, including popping boba, sprinkles, candy, mochi, nuts, and chocolate chips. There wasn’t any fresh fruit. During my visit the flavors were: Country vanilla, Pistachio, Very strawberry and Chocolate classic.

You can choose between two sizes. A small is $2.99 and a large cup $3.99, with toppings an additional 50 cents. It’s self-serve and they don’t weigh your cups.

They didn’t have sample cups but were nice enough to improvise. The froyo tasted fine but it was way too soft. It would be difficult to pile a lot into a cup because of the soft texture. I hate it when froyo is too soft…so please, convenience stores and supermarkets take note – if you want to offer froyo, please make sure the texture is right because it so rarely is. Who wants to buy a big cup of runny, melted froyo?

As for the rest of the market, the hot food options weren’t that different from 7-Eleven: wings, rollers, hot dogs, potato wedges, etc. You can still get Icees. Loop has fancier soda and coffee machines and their own blend of coffee. The pastries looked fresher (and weren’t wrapped in plastic). There were a few tables. It’s a nicer looking cousin to 7-Eleven, AMPM and Circle K.

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

* LOOP NEIGHBORHOOD: 950 Hillside Blvd., Daly City, CA 94014

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 Off the Stick – New Flavors Inspired by Ice Cream Truck Memories

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve just returned from Yogurtland where I tried two new flavors from the new Off the Stick flavor promotion. This new summer time promotion is inspired by childhood ice cream truck memories.

The new flavors are:

• Strawberry Shortcake Pop (May 11): “An old fashioned flavor in a froyo twist. Real strawberries and crumbled cookies blend together in a flavor that’s worth chasing after.” I’ve never had the Strawberry Shortcake Pop. This flavor tasted like strawberries and cream but not fresh strawberries. It was sweet and not tangy at all. While it contains crumbled cookies, I couldn’t see any cookies. The popsicle version is covered in cake crumbs, so Yogurtland recommends pairing Strawberry Shortcake Pop with cake bites. The cake bites are small and spongy like pound cake but not as dense.
• Grape Freeze Sorbet (May 11): “Made with real Concord grapes, this sweet sorbet packs a punch of fruity flavor that’s so delicious, it’ll give you one tasty brain freeze.” I was expecting a punch of flavor and I didn’t get it. The grape flavor seemed muted – the actual popsicle probably has a stronger grape flavor. Kids might like this flavor but I can’t imagine eating a cup of it.
• Chocolate Banana A’Peel (June 8)
• Big Pop Sorbet (June 8)

I think the only one of those popsicles I’ve had before is Big Pop Sorbet which was okay (I haven’t had it in years). My favorite ice cream truck memory is of buying candy grab bags from the truck right after school. I’d get ice cream cup with chocolate sauce, Nutty Buddy, or a malt cup occasionally. Even if I thought those popsicles were okay before, I probably wouldn’t like them now. Froyo is better than a sugary popsicle. Froyo is better than ice cream.

None of the new flavors is tart (sad face). They sure come out with a lot of sorbets now.

The new toppings are cake bites (available now) and chocolate Magic Shell(available June 8).

Yogurtland is also bringing back back Orange Cream Pop and Rocket Pop Sorbet during the promotion, which runs through July 5.

Also, Yogurtland is raising funds for local children’s hospitals. Show your support by donating $1. You can fill out a paper form with a froyo cup and it will be displayed on the wall of your Yogurtland.

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

Here’s the official press release from Yogurtland:

Yogurtland Introduces Four New Flavors Driven by Ice Cream Truck Memories

– Magic Shell Debuts at Yogurtland —

(Irvine, CA) May 11, 2015 – If just hearing the sound of an ice cream truck makes you smile, then you are in for a sweet treat with Yogurtland’s four new unforgettable flavors inspired by ice cream truck novelties that take enchanted childhood memories off the stick and into your cup.

Beginning today, Yogurtland presents “Off the Stick,” its first flavor promotion featuring classic flavors – Strawberry Shortcake Pop, Grape Freeze Sorbet, Chocolate Banana A’Peel and Big Pop Sorbet. These unforgettable frozen delights will be accompanied by two new toppings – Yellow Cake Bites to complement the new Strawberry Shortcake flavor and Magic Shell, the velvety-smooth chocolate goodness that quickly freezes into the crunchy candy coating you couldn’t get enough of as a kid. This is the first time Yogurtland has offered Magic Shell.

Yogurtland is also bringing back Orange Cream Pop and Rocket Pop Sorbet, its much-admired ice cream novelty inspired flavors from your childhood glory days.

“These flavors were an indelible part of nearly everyone’s childhood, and we think these authentic tastes will bring back those carefree memories of warm days spent outside enjoying a frozen treat,” said Yogurtland’s chief flavorologist Scott Shoemaker. “At Yogurtland we strive to recreate memorable flavors that bring generations together for a fun experience, and these flavors represent some of the best of our childhood memories.”

On May 11, Yogurtland will introduce Strawberry Shortcake Pop and Grape Freeze Sorbet followed on June 8 by Big Pop Sorbet and Banana A’Peel.

Strawberry Shortcake Pop is an old-fashioned flavor in a froyo twist. Real strawberries and crumbled Shortcake cookies blend together in a flavor that’s worth chasing after.

Grape Freeze Sorbet is made with real Concord grapes in sweet sorbet that packs a punch of fruity flavor so delicious, it’ll give you the tastiest brain freeze ever.

Big Pop Sorbet is inspired by perhaps the most celebrated ice cream flavor of your childhood. This swirl of real cherries and pineapple delivers BIG fun flavor by the spoonful in this summer-y sorbet.

Banana A’Peel is a boardwalk icon with everything your heart desires when it comes to frozen treats. It’s made with mixed real bananas and real cocoa to recreate the classic chocolate dipped banana flavor that’s perfect for your cup.

Fans are encouraged to share their memorable creations at #OffTheStick and #Yogurtland.

At Yogurtland, a modern, bright wall of flavors and a colorful appealing topping bar filled with healthful and indulgent options welcomes guests. Paying by the ounce, guests can choose among 16 yogurt flavors and more than 60 fruit and premium toppings to create their own delicious frozen treat and top it off their way.

As the frontrunner in the recent frozen yogurt industry surge, Yogurtland is one of the nation’s first and largest self-serve frozen yogurt brands. The company has transformed the industry by reshaping a popular trend into a growing business by redefining the dessert experience and delivering ultimate customer control.

The Yogurtland Difference

Separating Yogurtland from competitors is the company’s team of flavorologists who develop the proprietary recipes for the brand’s more than 100 different and customized flavors. Whether traditional or exotic, each flavor uses real ingredients sourced from their original locations. By controlling the entire frozen yogurt making process, Yogurtland has raised the standards for flavors and quality to new heights and much to the delight of millions of fans.

Naturally occurring calcium makes Yogurtland yogurt a healthful, refreshing treat. Fruit flavors are also fortified with Vitamin C. All of Yogurtland’s flavors meet the National Yogurt Association Criteria for “live and active culture frozen yogurt” and are produced in a kosher-certified facility. Yogurtland features non- and low-fat yogurt flavors as well as non-dairy and no sugar added choices.

Presently there are Yogurtland locations across the U.S., Australia, Guam, Thailand, Venezuela and Dubai. For more information, visit http://www.yogurt-land.com.

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.