Pinkberry Corporation
Type	Franchise
Founded	January 2005 in West Hollywood
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, USA
Key people	Hye Kyung (Shelly) Hwang, President Young Lee, Co-President
Industry	Restaurants
Products	Frozen yogurt style Smoothies Shaved ice
Website	Pinkberry.com

Pinkberry is an upscale franchise of frozen dessert restaurants headquartered in Los Angeles, California. There are currently 48 stores, mostly located in Southern California with twelve in New York City. Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... For other uses, see President (disambiguation). ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... Not to be confused with Desert. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ...

The first store opened in January 2005 by Korean Americans Shelly Hwang and Young Lee.^[1] The tart, frozen dessert has a groupie-like following who sometimes refer to it as "Crackberry".^[1] The company acknowledges its cult-like following by maintaining a "groupie corner" on its website. When the company was the subject of an American Express commercial for a new "Plum Card" aimed at mid-sized business owners in 2007, the commercial stated that "it's amazing how in just three years, [Hwang and Lee] created a cultural phenomenon". A Korean American is a person of Korean ancestry who was either born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ... A groupie is a person who, while he/she may be a fan at some level, seeks intimacy (most often physical, sometimes emotional) with a famous person. ... American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as AmEx or Amex, is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. ...

History

Original Pinkberry restaurant on Huntley Drive near Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, California

Hwang's first business venture was to open a formal English teahouse on a tiny residential street called Huntley Drive in West Hollywood, California. However, after the city refused to approve a permit for Hwang and her business partner, architect Young Lee, they decided to go with their second plan, which was a frozen yogurt concept reviving the craze of the '80s.^[2] People were soon driving across town and standing in line for up to 20 to 30 minutes to get their fix of "the taste that launched 1,000 parking tickets".^[1] The second store opened in September of 2006, and since then, stores have been springing up all over Southern California and also branches in New York. On October 16, 2007, the firm took in an $27.5M investment from Maveron, the venture fund founded by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, to expand the firm's concept nationwide.^[3] Beginning in late 2007, Pinkberry began appearing in advertisements for American Express' new Plum Card, with Pinkberry and the card described by actress Lauren Graham in a voiceover. In an attempt to add an air of exclusivity to its new product, Amex claimed to create an initial run of only 10,000 of these cards.^[4] Pinkberry (according to the ad) was issued card #1170. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 419 pixelsFull resolution (2453 × 1286 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 419 pixelsFull resolution (2453 × 1286 pixel, file size: 1. ... California State Route 2; the Santa Monica Boulevard segment is highlighted in red, Alvarado Street is highlighted in green, the Glendale Freeway is highlighted in blue, and the Angeles Crest Highway is highlighted in purple. ... Nickname: WeHo Location of Los Angeles County in California and West Hollywood within Los Angeles County Country United States State California County Los Angeles Incorporated 1984  - City Council John Heilman (mayor) Sal Guarriello John J. Duran Abbe Land Jeffrey Prang Area    - City  1. ... For other uses of Starbuck, see Starbuck. ... Howard Schultz (b. ... American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as AmEx or Amex, is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. ... Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress. ...

Menu

Medium-sized Original flavored frozen dessert

Pinkberry's menu consists of Original, Green Tea and Coffee (introduced in January 2008, for their third-year anniversary) flavored frozen yogurt style desserts, in three sizes: Small (5 oz), Medium (8 oz) and Large (13 oz). Other products offered include Shaved Ice, with fresh fruit or green tea, and two types of smoothies. Pinkberry dessert contains per 1/2 cup 70 calories (for Original), 90 calories (for Coffee), and 50 calories (for Green Tea), zero fat and 5 grams of sugar (1.4 teaspoons). Fruit toppings, cut fresh on-site, include: strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, banana, kiwi, mango, and pineapple. There are also a variety of dry toppings to choose from, including: almonds, carob chips, chestnuts (new topping), chocolate chips, Cocoa Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles, coconut, mochi (rice cakes), yogurt chips, cookies 'n cream, granola, and Cap'n Crunch. Pinkberry has introduced seasonal flavors like pomegranate seeds and lychee for holiday and summer seasons. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (624 × 832 pixel, file size: 164 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (624 × 832 pixel, file size: 164 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Binomial name L. The Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 5–8 m tall. ... Binomial name Sonn. ...

Nutrition facts

A single serving of Pinkberry "Original Frozen Yogurt" is 1/2 cup. All offerings on the menu are larger than a single serving.^[5]

Pinkberry's Original Frozen Yogurt is fat-free. The addition of toppings adds calories, sugar, and fat.

Competitors

The company's success has led to complaints of congestion and littering near its stores and the launching of several competitors including Swirls, Kiwiberri, Berri Good, Yogurberry, and Red Mango USA. This emergence of competition is fueled in part by companies Cielo corporation who manufactures and distributes yogurt powder to businesses aspiring to be the next pinkberry.^[6] This is not surprising given that some estimate that a single store receives more than 1,500 customers per day and can bring in $250,000 a month.^[7] Many frozen yogurt aficionados suggest that Pinkberry itself is a copycat of the frozen yogurt giant Red Mango, based out of South Korea, which recently entered the United States with locations in Westwood Village, Venice, Northridge, Las Vegas and a new location in New York City (on 14th St.)^[8] Kiwiberri is a frozen yogurt chain based in Los Angeles. ... Red Mango is a frozen yogurt chain founded in South Korea in 2002 that has gained popularity in the United States. ...

Store design

Pinkberry on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California

Some attribute the company's success to its appealing combination of low-sugar, low-fat cool dessert in a designer environment with Philippe Starck furniture and Le Klint lighting.^[9] A pastel color palette is used for the walls and natural pebbles line the floor. The official website is designed by LA-based design firm Ferroconcrete.^[10] Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 579 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1553 × 1608 pixel, file size: 874 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 579 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1553 × 1608 pixel, file size: 874 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Melrose Avenue is a popular shopping street stretching from Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills to Hoover Street in Silver Lake. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... A book about Starck by Taschen alarm clock Telefunken ca. ...

Controversy

Originally marketed as frozen yogurt, Pinkberry has recently faced complaints that its product does not meet the California Department of Food and Agriculture's definition of frozen yogurt because it does not contain the necessary amount of bacterial cultures per ounce. The Los Angeles Times sent samples of Pinkberry's product to a lab and revealed that Pinkberry did contain active yogurt cultures, but it does not contain the minimum amount of culture to call itself frozen yogurt, according to California state law.^[11] According to the Los Angeles Times, Pinkberry's product had only 69,000 bacterial cultures per gram, compared to 200,000 for Baskin-Robbins. The National Yogurt Association (NYA) established its own criteria for live and active culture yogurt. In order for manufacturers to carry their Live and Active Culture seal, refrigerated yogurt products must contain at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture, and frozen yogurt products must contain 10 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture. This level was based on a survey of leading research scientists involved in clinical studies of the health attributes associated with live and active culture yogurt.^[12] french fry frozen yogurt Frozen yogurt (also frozen yoghurt, Froyo[1] or frogurt) is a frozen dessert made from or containing yogurt or dairy analogues. ... This just IN !!!:paris hiltons new dog. ...

The Pinkberry jingle heard on their website is sung by the 80's musician Tigra, from L'Trimm. Apparently in response to a recent lawsuit against Pinkberry claiming that Pinkberry's product is not "real yogurt", Pinkberry removed all lyrics to this jingle on their website except for the words "Pinkberry", which repeats over and over again at the chorus (prior to this change, the jingle had lyrics that characterized their product as "yogurt", and compared their product as better than ice cream).^[13] LTrimm was a Miami Bass hip-hop duo composed of Lady Tigra and Bunny D, two women from Kendall, Florida (an area of Dade County, slightly south-west of Miami). ...

The unproven health benefits attributed to yogurt that were previously posted on the walls of Pinkberry (e.g., cures colon cancer, fights yeast infections) have been removed.^[14]

Interior of a Pinkberry store in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 750 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 1024 pixel, file size: 843 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Interior of a Pinkberry store in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 750 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 1024 pixel, file size: 843 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Interior of a Pinkberry store in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ...

Publicity and Advertising

Most of the advertising for Pinkberry has been via "word of mouth." The company has received recent publicity with an advertising spot on a commercial for the American Express Plum Card. The product was additionally spotlighted by Ellen DeGeneres in January 2008 when each of the 600 guests in the audience of The Ellen DeGeneres Show were treated to cups of Pinkberry.^[15] Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and currently the Emmy Award-winning host of the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. ... For the television sitcom, see Ellen (TV series) and The Ellen Show. ...

References

• Yoshino, Kimi. "Pinkberry in Culture Clash", Los Angeles Times, 2007-05-10. Retrieved on 2007-05-10. 
• "Mice on the loose in frozen yogurt store", WABC-TV Channel 7 New York, NY, 2007-06-18. Retrieved on 2007-06-18. 
• Maese, Kathryn. "Little Tokyo's Cold War", Los Angeles Downtown News, 2007-06-04. Retrieved on 2007-06-04. 

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External links

• Official Site