Frutta Bowls Coming to State College

Another healthy food option is coming to downtown State College as New Jersey-based Frutta Bowls looks to open a store on Beaver Avenue sometime in February.

Frutta Bowls will be the first business to open in the newly constructed mixed-used high rise called The Edge, at 254 E. Beaver Ave. The apartments in The Edge opened to tenants in August.

Frutta Bowls serves fruit acai, pitaya and kale bowls that focus on healthy options along with toast, hot oatmeal and smoothies. The store allows customers to build their own bowls and other food options that a can be as “healthy or as indulgent as you want” said Frutta Bowls COO Chris Ives.

The company focuses on health and on so-called super foods, and Ives said State College is just the type of market it was looking to expand with young customers looking for healthy alternatives.

Frutta Bowls started two years ago and has grown a large footprint around southeastern schools, said Ives.

With two stores in Pennsylvania — in Philadelphia and Quakertown — the company looks to grow in the Northeast.

State College, with its college-age population, made sense for the store, Ives said.

The store will feature about 20 sitdown spaces for customers, with additional outside seating during the warmer months. Ives said the store will offer an atmosphere for students to sit, find a healthy meal and a coffee and have a comfortable place to study.

The healthy bowl trend is hitting State College this school year as Frutta Bowls comes into the market after Playa Bowls opened this fall on Calder Way.