Tasty delight for health-conscious
One size doesn’t fit all appetites. But when it comes to desserts, America’s collective waistline suggests we’ll eat whatever we’re served down to the last bite.
To make treat eating healthier, Spokane’s Froyo Earth Frozen Yogurt has a different spin on dessert. Customers serve themselves and pay by the ounce for a product owner Stephen Kraft says has numerous health benefits, especially compared to high-fat and high-sugar fare.
“The customer can make just what they want, as little or as much as they want,” said Kraft, noting they offer 11 changing yogurt flavors, one sorbet and more than 30 toppings. “I say it is the future of ice cream because of the healthy profile. It’s high in calcium and high in probiotics. … We want to give them something that is relatively healthy and without the corn syrups, without weird colorings and without a lot of the weird additives that are popping up in our food supply.”
Kraft opened the first Froyo Earth downtown last summer with family partners Karen and Olivia Kraft. This summer they expanded to the North Side and the Valley, opening a store on North Division in June and one at Sullivan Road and Fourth Avenue in July.
“I kind of always wanted to be in the health food industry,” Kraft said. When he lost his job in the medical device industry he decided to take that leap, first considering doughnuts and cupcakes and other business concepts. He picked frozen yogurt, in part, because it fit his health-conscious sensibility.
“I considered other businesses but none seemed as appealing. There is already an obesity problem in this country. I wanted to be on the healthful side of eating,” he said, admitting that customers can still treat a sweet tooth by making a higher-calorie dessert with sugary toppings if they don’t want the natural sugars in fresh fruit.
“We go through tons and tons of fruit every week, every month,” he said. “We want to be known for the quality of our product and our friendly customer service. The quality of the product is in the taste.”
The taste surprised Kraft when he first considered the frozen yogurt business, because he remembered the frozen yogurt craze in the ’80s as super sugary. But after tasting different yogurts up and down the Interstate 5 corridor he was sold on the product as a healthy ice cream alternative.
“It’s ice creamy without the filmy aftertaste and without the fat and without as much sugar and with the live and active cultures. I said, ‘Wow, that’s a good product.’ ” he said. “Yogurt is a food class that has been around for thousands of years and withstood the test of time.”
Rather than opening a franchise, the Krafts created their own brand, Froyo Earth Frozen Yogurt. After a rapid expansion to three stores they expect to open a fourth near Gonzaga University in January 2012. They are also in the planning stages of establishing Froyo Earth as a new franchise.
“It turned out to be a rousing success and spawned a lot of competitors,” said Kraft. “But we did show them that it works.”
Along with its healthy focus, Kraft said Froyo Earth has a mission to be green. They use low-energy closed-end cooling equipment, for example, that he said doesn’t waste water like traditional cooling machines. “We’ve saved an immense amount of aquifer and power,” he said
Between the three stores, Froyo Earth employs about 30 people and they expect to hire one or two more in the Valley location.
“It’s been great. We love the Valley mix,” Kraft said. “It’s quintessential Spokane: great neighborhoods, lots of kids. The response has been positive. People said, ‘You should have gotten open earlier.’ That’s a good negative.”
Kraft said they plan to showcase local art and make the Valley store a venue for local high school groups to perform.
“One of our goals is to provide a fun, coffee shop-like atmosphere for the young of all ages to have a gathering place outside the home and school, outside of home and work,” he said. “We need a place to get together and see people face-to-face. That’s one of our reasons for being here.”