Since appearing at the start of the school year, the new frozen yogurt machine in the cafeteria has been striking the curiosity of La Salle’s staff and students with its mouth-watering flavors and vibrantly colored toppings.

The new addition to the cafeteria was introduced via Garrett Wisbaum, who graduated from La Salle in 2010, and who is now a territory manager for the Reis & Irvy’s frozen yogurt company. The machine was installed and is managed by Tony Sutherland, the president of Blaise’s Frozen Treats, which is a franchisee of Reis & Irvy’s.

During the month of September, 347 cups of frozen yogurt were purchased from the new frozen yogurt machine, Sutherland said.

In order to support both the machine and the new refrigerator that stores any additional gallons of frozen yogurt, the school needed a more powerful outlet to be installed against the wall that the machine currently rests against. This added expense was completely funded by Blaise’s Frozen Treats, as the school wasn’t responsible for any of the installation costs, and is not paying a fee to host it or cover maintenance.

The machine functions primarily on its own with the help of a sculpting unit, a compressor, two gallon barrels, and two five gallon hoppers. The frozen yogurt is kept cold by the compressor, which chills the two barrels to a freezing temperature. 

Although the machine can hold up to 12 gallons of frozen yogurt, health code requires the machine to be cleaned out once a week. With access to the school’s kitchen and dishwasher, Sutherland visits campus every Sunday to restock the machine with new frozen yogurt and ensure that it’s functioning properly. 

In a situation where the machine malfunctions, Sutherland generally receives an alert notifying him that there’s an issue with the machine, but depending on the situation, this is not always the case. He wants to make sure that students and others know that they do not have to pay for frozen yogurt which they don’t receive. “As long as the person sends me an email, I’m happy to give them a refund,” Sutherland said.

So far this school year, Sutherland said that the machine has only malfunctioned twice. In one situation the cup dispenser got jammed. In another situation, a cup got stuck in the door of the machine. Both malfunctions were fortunately on a Friday afternoon, so Sutherland was able to fix each issue over the weekend.

The machine is available for use throughout each weekday until approximately 6 p.m., making it an option for students and staff throughout the entire school day. When the machine is not on, it’s in a sleep period, which prevents the frozen yogurt from getting too thick.

Some students have mixed feelings about the frozen yogurt machine due to its price. “I don’t use the frozen yogurt machine because it costs too much money, but I [also] think it’s a cool idea because it gives people more options,” sophomore Sebastian Gang said.

La Salle’s president and principal, Mr. Andrew Kuffner, said the machine opens up an opportunity as few dessert options are available during lunch and students aren’t allowed off campus during lunch. “It’s an opportunity for kids to have dessert and it doesn’t cost us anything,” Mr. Kuffner said. “It’s kind of fun.”

A serving of frozen yogurt is priced at $4.00, but Sutherland hopes to eventually add a larger serving size priced at $5.00 if business begins to pick up.

“I think $4.00 is pretty reasonable,” said junior Michael Bright. “There’s a lot of flavors and toppings to choose from.”

Currently, the machine offers one serving size, which comes with either vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry frozen yogurt. Only two of the three flavors are served at a time, although the machine has a swirl option which allows for more variety. 

The serving size also comes with two toppings of the consumer’s choice, which include miniature M&M’s, Fruity Pebbles, crushed nuts, and rainbow and chocolate sprinkles. It costs an additional $1.00 to add a third topping.

Sutherland said that sales are not taking off as quickly as he had been hoping for. Over the entire month of September, sales averaged about 11.5 cups a day. For the machine to remain at La Salle, he hopes to meet his break-even point of 16 or 17 cups a day. 

“[Sales are] not quite as good as I need [them] to be, but I think [they] will be there soon,” Sutherland said. “I’m hoping that word of mouth will do the marketing that I need at the school.”