The other day, I was watching TV and saw an American Express ad about some new “Plum Card” that they were promoting featuring the store, Pinkberry and Asian-American entrepreneurs Shelly Hwang and Young Lee (both originally from South Korea). According to “Wikipedia”, “Pinkberry is an upscale chain of frozen dessert restaurants headquartered in Los Angeles, California. There are currently 36 stores, mostly located in Southern California with seven in New York City.”
I had first heard of Pinkberry a few months ago from my friend (originally from Los Angeles) who said he half-jokingly wanted to make a career change and open a Pinkberry franchise, and I was wondering - what the hell is that? (a new version of the Blackberry?).
My friend went on to explain Pinkberry, and since they are currently only in Southern California and NYC, there’s a reason why I didn’t know about them. After getting my December issue of Fast Company and reading about Pinkberry (”Berry, Berry Ambitious“), and now seeing the American Express ad:
it looks like Pinkberry is approaching the tipping point of national awareness. I hope Pinkberry opens some stores in the Bay Area soon so I can tryout this “swirly goodness. It’s honest food, without preservatives, additives or excess sugar. It is dessert reinvented.”
In October, Pinkberry received $27.5 million from Maveron, the VC firm launched by Starbucks. Let’s hope these Asian-American entrepreneurs are just as successful!
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Bo wrote:
I heart Pinkberry. It is amazing. Enough said. Although I think most people in the know will admit that Pinkberry is a rip off of Red Mango. But, hey, they have first mover advantage in the US.
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 3:08 pm | Permalink
tsibugan wrote:
I remember seeing Pinkberry in John Mayer’s “2 Girls 1 Cup” parody.
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 3:12 pm | Permalink
I’m from the Bay Area, so I got the “OMG YOU NEVER BEEN TO PINKBERRY” reaction when I went down to LA to visit my friend (and go to a Pinkberry for the first time.)
It’s like (Frozen Yogurt + Fresh Fruit & Sour tasting yogurt cultures) x IKEA furnishings and stuff you can buy at Giant Robot. That being said, the line was totally out the door.
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 3:24 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
Funny, when I first lived in the Bay Area for a summer internship, my co-worker/friend couldn’t believe I never had “In & Out” - since In & Out is not out on the East Coast.
The next time I am in LA or NYC, I will have to check out Pinkberry!
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 3:36 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
As the only LA-ite to comment thus far, can I just say that Pinkberry is incredibly overrated?
I want to support Asian Americans in business but I will openly say that I dislike Pinkberry’s business strategy. You cannot open a Pinkberry franchise because the owners don’t believe in franchisees. They decided to open their stores corporate-owned. Thus, they NEEDED VC capital to expance. (And this is the flaw in their strategy, in my opinion. There is little barrier of entry into starting a fro-yo shop; therefore they ought to have opted to get the Pinkberry stores opened faster… via franchise!)
If you haven’t made it down to LA recently, you will see that the tarty fro-yo craze has peaked and there are a tons of Pinkberry knockoffs here which have out-Pinkberried Pinkberry. I personally prefer Fiore over Pinkberry, although you can also choose from Cantaloop, Kiwiberry, Red Mango, Pingo Yogurt, Rose Green, YogurtLand, Peach House, Yoku Youku… and the list goes on.
By the way, there is ongoing litigation regarding Pinkberry for false advertising their product as frozen yogurt. Their product is made out of a powder mix and does not contain the active cultures to be technically a “yogurt.”
If you’re in LA, forget Pinkberry and support another Korean-American entrepreneur: Tai Kim at Scoops, who personally hand-makes special batches of ice cream and gelato of the highest quality and the most interesting combinations. And tell him Joz sent you.
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 8:51 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
jozjozjoz:
I don’t know if Pinkberry is overated or not - I need to try their products out personally.
Ummm Starbucks isn’t a franchise and they were able to grow….coffee is even more of a commodity. In & Out Burger is not a franchise either. Franchising can be dangerous if you grow fast and can’t maintain quality. Also, one can grow too fast and become a quick fad and die out quickly (i.e. Krispy Kreme - I think they are franchised, but I could be wrong.)
Before the posting, I did do a little research. It is true that by California standards, Pinkberry does not have enough active cultures to be technically a “yogurt,” but I don’t think it’s just made out of powder mix (I could be wrong).
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 9:13 pm | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
I absolutely agree that you do not have to be a franchise to succeed. However, if *I* was Pinkberry, I would have done it differently. You absolutely need to grow at the appropriate speed and to maintain quality. Pinkberry’s success will depend on their ability to brand the Pinkberry name as well to fight off competition.
Regardless, I was into Pinkberry for a split second, but I would rather not spend my hard-earned cash on this product.
YMMV.
Posted on 19-Dec-07 at 10:38 pm | Permalink
Lily wrote:
Around here, Pinkberry is mostly for Paris Hilton fashionista types… not for financially challenged writers like myself. But, it’s a place for yuppies to throw away their cash now that everyone’s sick of Starbucks. I reviewed the Koreatown Pinkberry on Yelp. It’s such a scene.
Who knows if it’ll stick around, though. It’s been going strong for over a year now, as far as my own awareness goes, but I’m still not entirely convinced. Feels like a fad.
Posted on 20-Dec-07 at 8:18 am | Permalink
Claire wrote:
Hooray for scoops, which I will be enjoying shortly thanks to a thoughtful coworker who brought in a bunch of flavors. As for pinkberry, I have to admit I nursed an addiction to the stuff and am now over it. But, I say good for them! I think that everyone can agree, whether you hate it or love it, you wish you had thought of it!
Posted on 20-Dec-07 at 10:54 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Ooooh..Scoops. Mmmm…
Joz introduced me to Scoops a year ago, and I’ve been having mad cravings for it ever since.
I am still annoyed that there’s NOTHING like Pinkberry in the Bay Area, and I think their inability to allow franchises was really stupid–though I am surprised that the craze hasn’t caught on in terms of knockoff chains up here, since I’ve seen it practically everywhere else.
The closest thing to Korean-style yogurt are a couple random places that I’ve seen down in my hometown of Santa Clara, which is actually pretty amazing, since I went to this one place called Cafe Aroma on El Camino Real with nasty garlic breath (from Korean BBQ) and was shocked that it went away after having a serving of their frozen yogurt.
Posted on 20-Dec-07 at 1:51 pm | Permalink
akrypti wrote:
Efren, there is! I forget what it’s called but the place is a near-rhyme to “Bonanza.” It’s in a little plaza — Uferts! The Ufert’s plaza thing to the right of the Ranch 99 plaza thing in the south bay!
Posted on 20-Dec-07 at 2:04 pm | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Ulferts??? Is that in Milpitas or Cupertino? I am going to be in the South Bay next week, so I’ll have to check it out…
Posted on 20-Dec-07 at 3:56 pm | Permalink
akrypti wrote:
Milpitas Ulferts Center
It’s called Bolansa Dessert
678 Barber Lane (first floor)
in Milpitas, CA
Link: http://www.ulferts.com/mc-dn.html
Directions: http://www.ulferts.com/mc-dr.html
And look - Bolansa even has its own website!
http://www.bolansa.com/1.html
Here’s some random person’s review on it on a personal blog: http://ricecakeconfessional.wordpress.com/2007/10/06/bolansa-dessert-milpitas-ca/
Posted on 20-Dec-07 at 4:20 pm | Permalink
The Realist wrote:
Got nothing against pinkberry, wish them nothing but success. But the American Express ad campaign just goes to show how out of touch media people (including advertising) is with 98% of America. Lets face it - no one outside the NY/LA media orbit has any fucking idea what a Pinkberry is. Unless you suck dicks in WeHo, Pinkberry registers a”…………Wha????……….”
Posted on 28-Dec-07 at 10:52 pm | Permalink
M wrote:
It’s a shame really, for late-comers, Red Mango. Red Mango actually came BEFORE Pinkberry and is the Korean original that started it all. Red Mango was incorporated in 2002…whereas Pinkberry was founded in 2005! All of my Korean friends complained about Pinkberry when the craze hit in So Cal…and referred to the very similar Red Mango treats that they tasted in Korea years before.
You can knock everyone else for copying Pinkberry…but leave Red Mango alone! Their fro-yo is REAL yogurt, ya’ll. That’s why it’s creamier and a bit yummier.
Eh, a lame comment. But I like Red Mango!
Posted on 03-Feb-08 at 1:55 am | Permalink
8Asians.com » Yul Kwon’s Red Mango in Palo Alto: An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog wrote:
[...] first heard of Red Mango when I had written about Pinkberry being highlighted in an American Express commercial. Being new to the Korean export of frozen yogurt, I decided to drop by downtown Palo Alto Sunday [...]
Posted on 21-May-08 at 7:24 am | Permalink
jack wrote:
it aint overrated, i’m addicted
Posted on 14-Jun-08 at 7:38 pm | Permalink