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Sweet Frog: Self-serve frozen yogurt for five years

Sweet Frog, 1930 Lycoming Creek Road, has been offering the community self-serve frozen yogurt for over five years.

The business is owned by two brothers, Rob Saar and Rick Saar.

“We got into the business five years ago. It was actually an idea that Rick came up with, and we started researching it for about a year,” Rob Saar said. “We visited other locations, and we decided it would be a good fit for Williamsport.”

He said he likes raising his family in the Williamsport area.

“I’ve bought a house and we’ve been there ever since,” he said. “We just love the area.”

The brothers grew up in the area and wanted to make it happen locally.

“Customers basically come in. They have options of different sizes of cups, and they have choices (for yogurt flavor),” he said. “Then they move over to the toppings bar.”

Rob Saar said that customers can serve themselves yogurt in their cups, choose their toppings or sauces and then pay by weight at the end.

“Other than premium frozen yogurt, we also have soft serve ice cream and sorbets,” Rick Saar said. “We have nondairy and items that are nonallergenic. So, anyone who has food allergies, we have options for them as well. We also have healthier choices and more indulgent choices.”

He said there’s also fresh fruit available for toppings.

“It’s not just nonhealthy ice cream, there’s a whole spectrum of products we can serve,” he said. “Frozen yogurt itself is much healthier for you, and we have the dairy free and nonfat, lowfat options,” he said. “We cover a broad base … We can accommodate just about anybody.”

Rick Saar said the brothers were looking into what they could do to help support their families when they decided to go into business together.

“We invest in real estate, and one of the things we considered was a franchise. We spent a few years searching types of franchises, and then we narrowed it down to food,” he said.

Then they decided they wanted to go into frozen desert which eventually lead them to Sweet Frog.

“We looked at several frozen yogurt places, and there were several models out there. One of the things that drew us to Sweet Frog is that Frog stands for Fully Relying On God,” he said. “Given our upbringings, our values and what we try to instill in our families, that was just a good fit for us.”

Rob Saar said he finds customers appreciate having the faith based foundation.

“This is our neighborhood that we grew up in, and we thought it’d be nice to have a family-friendly business here,” Rick Saar said. “Prior it was a cigarette check cashing, and it was run down. There were several robberies here … and it was an eyesore.”

He said they’re received many comments about how much better the property looks now that Sweet Frog moved in.

“It’s a beautiful property with real bright colors, and it’s a nice addition to the neighborhood. That’s what we were looking for,” he said. “We wanted some place where families could come.”

In the summer, customers can sit outside at the nice patio area with their families.

“You’d rather see that than a vacant property where it’s being vandalized,” he said.

Rick Saar said the experience is something children especially enjoy because they can pull the levers and serve the frozen yogurt themselves.

“They can go nuts, and it’s fun for kids to pick out the toppings themselves too,” he said. “But we recommend that families limit the younger kids to one to two toppings … But kids have a lot of fun coming in and doing it themselves.”

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