Shop has an upscale urban look with a friendly design
Published in the Aug. 19 – Sept. 1, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
Marlene Hernandez, an employee at Forever Yogurt, displays a Blue Chip cookie served at the Morgan Hill franchise.
There’s a brand new sweet treat shop in town. The Forever Yogurt/Bee & Tea store serves 18 varieties of the creamy dairy dessert accented with a choice of 75 toppings. It also serves boba tea, healthy acai bowls and baos (a steamed filled Chinese cuisine bun).
Located at the Cochrane Commons shopping center just east of U.S. 101, Morgan Hill’s Forever Yogurt store is the first of the Chicago-based franchise to come to California. It’s also the first to combine the Bee & Tea franchise. Owner Haig Kouyoumdjian has designed the shop to be fun for families to bring their children, especially with a colorful wall mural featuring robots Freud and Freda (the shop’s mascots) having adventures in Morgan Hill regional sites such as El Toro, Henry W. Coe State Park, Lake Anderson, and the Granada Theater. The mural has proven popular for photo ops since the store had its soft opening earlier this month.
“Most ice cream shops are kind of just geared toward the kids and I really wanted something that was for families, teenagers, even adults coming in by themselves,” Kouyoumdjian said. “So I gave it kind of an upscale urban look with a kid-friendly design.”
Trained as a clinical psychologist with a practice in Morgan Hill and involved for years as a professor and textbook author, Kouyoumdjian decided to start his Forever Yogurt store because of his two girls, Sosi, 6, and Ani, 4.
“I wanted to do something fun in the community,” he said. “It’s something that my kids can spend time with their friends and we can really have a family environment.”
Besides families, Forever Yogurt also caters to the busy commuter who might want to come in early morning hours for a cup of boba tea and get a caffeine boost instead of from Starbucks, or enjoy a healthy breakfast of an acai bowl.
Located between Live Oak High School and Sobrato High School, Forever Yogurt has grown into a hang-out place for teens who enjoy the free Wi-Fi while doing their homework or playing card games at the tables made from recycled bowling alley wood.
“Teens are grateful for a place to hang out,” Kouyoumdjian said. “This is really a safe place where they can all find something.”
Yogurt options change weekly depending on the customers’ preference. Examples of yogurts served include watermelon sorbetto, Tahitian vanilla, double Dutch chocolate, butter pecan, Italian pistachio, mint chocolate chip, peanut butter cup, salted caramel cookie, cannoli, tiramisu, fresh coconut, and strawberry.
The yogurt is made with fresh ingredients using a proprietary recipe developed by a chef in Chicago. The milk used in the process is from a small dairy farm in Michigan known for its quality. The milk undergoes a special pasteurization process that removes much of the sugar, keeps all of the protein, and removes all the lactose, so it’s perfect for anyone who is lactose intolerant or has soy allergies.
Kouyoumdjian said, “There’s not a single preservative, artificial flavor or artificial color in any of our yogurts — and that makes them special. One that is getting a lot of attention is the Mexican chocolate chipotle. It is a surprisingly spicy frozen dessert. I have some loyal customers who keep coming back for it.”
The Bee & Tea side of the shop decided to include boba tea among his offerings because it is growing more popular with consumers. Originating in Taiwan, the tea is mixed with tapioca pearls that have been marinated in organic honey and natural sugar cooked fresh at the store. The store offers jasmine green, black tea, green milk tea, black milk tea, and taro flavors. Customers sip the jelly-like pearls through a large straw and enjoy the gummy texture as they taste the tea.
“Boba teas have become mainstream,” Kouyoumdjian said. “This is the first store in Morgan Hill dedicated to boba teas, and people are thankful that we finally have a boba tea shop.”
Forever Yogurt also serves a variety of Blue Chip cookies, a brand that originated in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf in the 1980s and won many chocolate chip cookie awards, he said.
“The actor Clint Eastwood made Blue Chip really famous because he said they’re the best cookies he’s ever had in his life,” he said. “Someone might want to pick up a yogurt and a cookie or a boba drink and a cookie, or maybe just come in for a cookie.”
