Sneha Suri, the owner and CEO of Menchie’s Crow Canyon Commons, never expected to take over a frozen yogurt business when she moved to San Ramon back in 2022. However, one of the previous owners was a relative, so she had visited the shop on many occasions. Now, she’s become a fixture at local events and uses her business to fundraise in the community.
In regards to the origins of the shop, “One of the partners was my brother-in law,” Suri explained while she and her husband Vijay Suri packed up after a sale. “They [the partners] wanted to get rid of it, so I bought it. I didn’t give a second thought about it. They were too busy to run it, being in IT and all, and my background was in hospitality.”
Suri has a masters’ degree in culinary arts from when she lived in London, and worked in the past with Hilton Group. Her prior experience with frozen yogurt? Not much, according to her, but she enjoys the interpersonal interactions and making the icebox cakes for sale.
“I always wanted to do something of my own,” Suri said. “[I] wanted to have the flexibility of having family around. I love being around kids and the community; that was one of the assets I was looking for.”
Menchie’s, a national brand, has franchise locations throughout the United States and increasingly around the world, including destinations as far-flung as Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Founded in Southern California, it has 12 stores in the Bay Area alone. Among its fellow franchises, it is profitable due to the low risk and higher profit relative to startup cost, compared to a restaurant that requires cooking equipment such as a fast-food outpost.
Though Suri’s storefront is located at 3104 Crow Canyon Place in San Ramon, her business may be most visible to DVHS students at the school itself. The stand can be found in front of the main gym on most Wednesdays in the warm months of the school year. Along with other scattered dessert businesses, Suri sets up shop with portable coolers and $5 yogurt cups packaged in store.
“We do the majority of the schools,” Suri said. “I was yesterday at Cal High, the day before that Monte Vista. I would say [we go to the] majority, maybe 95 percent of the schools in the area. I’d even say there is probably not a school I haven’t been to in San Ramon.”
As a SRVUSD parent, Suri is nearly omnipresent at community events around the school district. Among community events that she fundraises for, Suri listed Trunk or Treats, movie nights, graduations, open houses and book fairs (besides school fundraisers, her stands pop up elsewhere, such as the annual Run for Education downtown).
Sheri Lee, PTA President at Quail Run Elementary School, agreed that Suri attends a myriad of school functions. Frozen yogurt was for sale at the 2023 Fall Festival and 2024 Family Picnic. At the Quail Run Education Fund’s annual Camp Quail student gathering last year, Suri offered the dessert free of charge. According to Lee, she often returns portions of ordinary sale profits to the PTA, not just designated fundraisers.
“Even when we ask her to come without [suggesting] giving anything back, she always gives something back,” Lee said. “We just invited her; even without us asking she would always give something.”
The treats lend a festive atmosphere to the parties, and according to Lee are reliably popular.
“Oh, it’s always a hit at the family picnic,” Lee reminisced. “I know theirs was a long line. My own kids got some. I got to enjoy some of their frozen yogurt, definitely a hit.”
At DVHS, a multitude of student organizations partner occasionally or on the regular with the Menchie’s as an alternative source of funding for donations. Junior Allison Huang, secretary of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), noted that the option was a lot more amenable to members.
“You’re given an exchange of goods,” Huang explained when describing why these collaborations are a more effective tool than flat contributions. “We get a pretty good percentage [of profits], so it’s good [for us too]. We saw a lot of clubs fundraise with Menchie’s, [and] we decided to get in with what they were doing,” Huang continued. “A lot of people really like Menchie’s, so we’ve gotten a lot of sales.”
According to Suri, among these customers Cookies ‘n’ Cream is a perpetually popular flavor, along with chocolate and vanilla swirl due to its status as a two-in-one. However, her personal favorite is Dole pineapple, a flavor that sometimes sells out in minutes.
“It makes me feel so happy [when] I’m going from grocery shopping, and kids come and were like ‘I know you, you were at my school!’” Suri said. “It really makes me smile. Just random kids come and talk to me!”
When asked if she planned to keep going, Suri answered promptly in the affirmative.
“We will,” she said. “As long as we get the community love, we love to do it.”
