The Inside Scoop on Self-serve, Pay-by-the-ounce Frozen Yogurt Stores

Some of my favorite discoveries while traveling the country this summer were pay by the ounce yogurt shops. As an ice cream/yogurt lover, I found the self-serve quality and wide selection of candy and fruit toppings to be irresistible. If you're not familiar with pay by the ounce frozen yogurt, here's the inside scoop.

The problem with traditional frozen yogurt stores

You can find frozen yogurt stores almost anywhere, but it's the pay by the ounce factor that really makes them special. At a traditional frozen yogurt shop, you purchase one flavor and then choose your toppings, and the person behind the counter gives you the pre-determined amount of topping.

In some cases, this can be very small - if you ask for strawberries as a topping, you may only be given 2 strawberries. Toppings average about $1.29, which means you are paying $1.29 for two strawberries. Ripoff!

How are pay by the ounce frozen yogurt stores different?

Pay by the ounce frozen yogurt stores are unique because they are self serve. You can mix as many flavors as you want, add as many toppings as you want, and most importantly, you control how much of each ingredient you get.

The price for pay by the ounce yogurt ranges from 30 to 49 cents per ounce, with the average being right in the middle at 39 cents. A full bowl with multiple toppings usually runs less than $5.

What toppings do pay by the ounce frozen yogurt stores offer?

The first pay by the ounce yogurt store I went to was Toppings in Beverly Hills. They offered a rotating assortment of a dozen yogurt flavors including cheesecake, coconut, and banana, and a toppings bar that included Oreo pieces, cookie dough, cereal, and candy bar bits. I later found a self serve yogurt shop in Oakland that offered mini cheesecake bits as a topping. All frozen yogurt shops have a wide selection of fresh fruit available.

I've been known to concoct a bowl with peach yogurt with white chocolate chips on the bottom and peanut butter yogurt with brownie bits on top. And I always top off my dish with a big serving of strawberries. They weigh almost nothing, so it's a really cheap way to get some fresh fruit.

Where can you find pay by the ounce frozen yogurt stores?

Unfortunately, most self serve frozen yogurt stores are on the west coast. When I moved to Chicago, I found several frozen yogurt shops, but none were pay by the ounce. I finally located one called YoGo Station in the suburb of Oak Park. I made the 20-minute drive out there just to give it a try, and it was worth the trip.

I always feel such joy walking over to the toppings bar and seeing the colorful mix of possibilities. Eating frozen yogurt feels good because it's much healthier than hard ice cream, although if you're constantly loading up your yogurt with candy toppings, the health advantage could go out the window.

East coast cities that are stuck with only hard ice cream shops, I feel for you. Calling all would-be entrepreneurs in Boston, Philadelphia, New York... there's an untapped market in your cities for pay by the ounce frozen yogurt.

Sources:

http://www.toppingsyogurt.com/index.html

http://www.yogostation.com/