Two new food options are set to open this semester — gelato dessert shop Buona Vita Yogurt on Shattuck Avenue and organic grab-and-go chain Urban Remedy on College Avenue.
Buona Vita Yogurt, which is set to open next week at 2114 Shattuck Ave., will offer Honey Hill Farms frozen yogurt and gelato from California distributor Leo Leo Gelato. Additionally, the shop offers an array of desserts such as bon bons, cakes and macarons that incorporate frozen yogurt and gelato.
Across town at 2946 College Ave., Northern California organic food company Urban Remedy will open the doors to its eighth store in mid-December, offering a wide selection of prepared organic, GMO- and gluten-free foods.
Buona Vita Yogurt’s first location in Rancho Murieta, California, is about a year old. Co-owners Madison Trenholm and Noreen Cardinale said their shop is unique from other Downtown Berkeley dessert spots because their bakery provides custom dessert offerings and welcoming business approach.
“There’s so much negativity in the world today that people lose sight that each one of us are truly beautiful,” Trenholm said. “It sounds cheesy, but we really have a message of love.”
The shop’s logo features a dove and the phrase “a taste of the good life.” The inspiration for the open arms model came from when Trenholm first saw the film Chocolat, according to Cardinale.
Joan Toause, owner of Juice Appeal — a Downtown Berkeley business of eight years that will neighbor Buona Vita Yogurt — said the most important factor of surviving in the student-driven area is an affordable menu.
But Urban Remedy CEO Paul Coletta said Berkeley customers are willing to pay a little more money for clean foods. In addition to Urban Remedy’s seven other locations, the store has 10 Whole Foods kiosks. The company also offers next-day delivery across the country, with free shipping for orders of $70 dollars or more.
“It is surprising to me how few options there are for certified organic grab-and-go food in Berkeley,” Coletta said. “Our customer is there, and the need is there.”
Coletta chose the College Avenue location for its lighting and his admiration of the well-established co-tenants.
“I’m sandwiched between two of my favorite shops in Berkeley,” Coletta said, referencing the neighboring businesses of Ici Ice Cream and Summer Kitchen Bake Shop.
Buona Vita Yogurt plans to continuously offer a 15 percent discount to students with ID. Urban Remedy will have a temporary grand opening offer of one free item of choice in the store on their opening day. The exact times that the giveaways will be running will be announced on their Facebook pages.
