Eagan Yogurt Lab Now Open on Cliff Road

Andrea Switz and her husband, Aaron, had just returned to Minnesota following a trip, when they had a sudden craving for frozen yogurt.

Not just any fro-yo would suffice, she said. They'd enjoyed sampling the offerings of several self-serve frozen yogurt places on the west coast, where customers pick from a variety of flavors and toppings to create their own unique dessert.

The problem, according to Switz, was that the experience they were looking for simply didn't exist in Minnesota.

"We tried a few others, but didn't feel it tasted like the ones we saw out west," she said.

Rather than curse the food gods for overlooking their home state, Switz said they decided it was time to follow their guts and go into business for themselves.

The couple opened their first Yogurt Lab shop in 2011 on Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, and now the pair is bringing the concept to Eagan and Apple Valley.

Eagan's Yogurt Lab opened on May 3 at 2000 Rahncliff Court—in a newly-built retail center that houses a Noodles & Co. and other food services and retailers. The business owners don't have an opening date set yet for the Apple Valley location, but said the yogurt shop will be located in a new retail building planned that will soon be developed adjacent to the Cub Foods.

The 1,300-square-foot Eagan shop features 16 flavors of self-serve frozen yogurt and as many as 70 rotating toppings, like fresh fruit and cereal, for customers to heap onto their servings. Customers pick their yogurt and their toppings, then pay by weight at the cash register.

The yogurt, Aaron Switz said, is made in-house with hormone-free milk—rather than frozen and shipped from a supplier. The toppings, he added, are chopped fresh daily and made with quality ingredients. This summer, the business plans to supplement its yogurt with probiotics to improve its health content, Aaron added.

"We’re high-end on creativity, high-end on toppings and high-end on the yogurt," Aaron Switz said.

Eagan was on the short list of potential expansion areas for Aaron and Andrea, and the location of the new store—near the movie theater and substantial retail complexes on Cliff Road—offers plenty of advantages, Aaron said.

Aaron hopes the shop's self-serve model will attract customers by putting the power in their hands.

"It think it's appealing for all people to do what you want to do, and not worry about the guy behind the counter giving you too much or too little," Aaron said.