Behind the Counter: Tutti Frutti

The local frozen yogurt scene is far from cold. More and more frozen yogurt shops in recent months.

The Towson location of Tutti Frutti opened over Memorial Day weekend. The East Joppa Road location (between Gino's and Potbelly) serves a rotation of 50 flavors on its 12 frozen yogurt pumps.

We spoke to Jim Ellis, a Kingsville resident and one of the owners, and Lance Conda, an Overlea resident and the operations manager.

What is Tutti Frutti?

Ellis: Tutti Frutti is a frozen yogurt concept that started in Korea. We spent more than a year doing research on what we thought was the best frozen yogurt franchise and there's quite a few, as you know, popping up, and we wanted to try and find out which was the best.

We did a lot of demographics, we visited a lot of stores, we tested the product and we determined that this was the one we thought was the best available.

Why?

Ellis: Because the product is exceptional. Because the yogurt taste is exceptional and the texture is exceptional. The product distribution is very timely. Plus they're on the cutting edge.

They have a product that came out about a month ago that's soy-based, so it requires no milk. We can flavor it almost any flavor we want, and we're finding a lot more people are looking for the soy base because they can eat it if they have lactose problems, or we find quite a few vegans, my nephew included, who come here to eat this because nowhere else will serve it.

What did you do before getting into the frozen yogurt business?

Ellis: I started out in the restaurant management business, going back perhaps 25 years. I was an instructor at Baltimore International Culinary Arts Institute [now Stratford University] quite some time ago.

I was teaching the students not how to prepare food, but how to manage a restaurant.

I am one of six owners, so each of us brings something different to the table ... One of our real stars is Lance Conda, because with all those expertises, if we didn't have someone to pull it all together and operate it and control employees and so forth, it would not be a success.

How has business been since you opened on Memorial Day weekend?

Ellis: It's going well, better than we anticipated.

A lot of hot days?

Ellis: Not only that, but Towson, it's great for the type of clientele this product is targeted for. Lots of families come in, it's a very comfortable environment. They sit on the sofa, they sit outside and it's not just a quick grab and go. It's something to come sit here, have a good time, enjoy and make it an event.

We're seeing a lot of frozen yogurt shops like this pop up in Towson. What do you think is driving that trend?

Ellis: They're looking for desserts, something that's reasonable, and something that's healthy. I think health is a concern. I'm a CPA by trade. I have a couple clients that do fitness centers, and some are geared just for kids. Some children still like their desserts but they need to be more careful in what they pick. And this is very healthy and it satisfies their desire for a dessert.

Tell me about some of the flavors. What are some of your favorites?

Conda: We're always changing flavors. I mean in the two months we've been open, we haven't been able to put out all the flavors, there's so many.

Today we just put out cookies and cream, which we expect to be a pretty good seller. It's actually pretty good, I think. It might become one of my favorites. Basically any of our tart based flavors, which would be any of the fruit flavors that we have.

Ellis: My favorite is the taro. It's very unique. It's made out of a root and I've read many places, people describe it like buttered popcorn. And it's exceptional. You wouldn't think that a root would generate such a good product, but it's a hot seller.