By B.C. Manion
With its lime green walls, curved orange counters and modernistic white chairs, Frogury has a signature style that makes it look and feel like a chain.
That’s intentional.
The owners of self-service frozen yogurt shop in New Tampa — just across County Line Road — are hoping it will be just the first of many of its kind.
“We wanted to do this one first, learn, and then see if we wanted to continue on doing the chain. So far, so good. We’ve had a great response so far,” said Joshua Candamo, one of the shop’s owners.
The plan is to open two more of the shops in Tampa within a year, although locations have not been selected yet.
“We like to think of yogurt as being fun, tasty and fresh,” said Candamo, who owns the business along with Tomas Echarte, a friend he met when they were students at the University of South Florida.
The shop opened at 6431 E. County Line Road, Suite 110 on July 23. It specializes in frozen yogurt, fruit salads, fresh fruit juices, espresso, cappuccino and lattes.
“We’ve had a great response so far,” Candamo said.
“Our target audience in here is family first. The kind of music we have will always be safe for kids. The entertainment we’re going to have on the weekends is always going to be for the families,” he said.
The frozen yogurt is served from dispensers bearing the Yogury brand name. Flavors include Tahitian vanilla, classic chocolate, cake batter, very strawberry, mango sorbet, cherry amaretto and California tart.
“You start there with a base. Our base is always going to be healthy, Candamo said.
“You’ll always see us trying to give the choice to the client,” Candamo said, adding patrons are encouraged to try a sample of as many flavors as they’d like.
Toppings range from seasonal fruits to assorted candies. There’s also fruit puree sauces as well as caramel, white chocolate, sugar free dark chocolate and dark chocolate toppings.
Once they finish topping off their yogurt, they are charged by the ounce.
Most customers spend between $2.50 and $4.50 on a treat, Candamo said.
The shop also serves 15 kinds of lattes, with flavors including caramel, peppermint, toffee nut and white chocolate, just to mention a few.
The idea is to offer variety.
“You can come here with your kids and everyone can get whatever they want,” Candamo said.
“We have the sweets. We have the tarts. We have the sorbets. We have the traditional flavors. We empower the client with a choice, thinking they’re going to make the right choice because you know what’s good for you.”
There are choices for vegans, too.
Fresh fruit juices also are sold at the shop. They are squeezed by hand with no sugar or water added, Candamo said.
The shop is open daily, from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The shop’s icon is a heart, which it incorporates into some of its designs. It stands for having a healthy heart, Candamo said. “It’s nice that we have a healthy alternative.”
For more information, go to Frogury.com.
