Frozen yogurt machine installed on second floor of student center
Regular size costs $4, large costs $5
MIT installed a new frozen yogurt machine in the Lobdell Food Court on the second floor of the student center the week of Dec. 15. A regular cup of frozen yogurt costs $4; a large costs $5.
Customers can choose from six toppings. The first two toppings are free; additional toppings cost $1 each. The machine accepts cash, MasterCard, Visa, Apple Pay, and Google Pay — but not TechCash — as payment.
The machine’s indicated operating hours are 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. daily. However, the machine appears to be intermittently offline at other times as well, including when The Tech visited on Saturday and Sunday evening.
The machine serves a vanilla flavor and a second, rotating flavor that has previously been chocolate, strawberry, and mocha. Customers can choose between a single flavor or a two-flavor swirl. Toppings include chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, graham crumbs, choco crunch, sliced almonds, and granola.
Kylee Carden ’23, a customer, wrote in an email to The Tech that the frozen yogurt machine “makes me go to the Stud even when I don't need to, and I usually end up buying food too.”
Reis and Irvy’s, the franchise behind the frozen yogurt machine, writes on its website that machines can serve a frozen yogurt in under a minute. Their Nutritional Information Brochure states that it uses “Grade A milk, real fruit and never any artificial flavors or colors.”
According to its website, Reis and Irvy’s machines serve high-traffic areas such as universities, airports, malls, stadiums, museums, and hospitals. Each machine reports live data to operators, including when stocks are low. The machine can serve 200 frozen yogurts before restocking is required.
Franchisees are contractually obligated to visit machines twice a week for maintenance, and a third time to sanitize and refill the unit, according to an NBC San Diego article July 9.
David D’Olympio, franchisee owner, and Reis & Irvy’s Marketing did not respond to The Tech’s requests for comment.