Coeliacs, Australia’s First Fully Gluten-Free Froyo Bar Has Opened In Canberra

Opening
26 August 2026
https://www.fricken.com.au/

For most people, filling a cup at a self-serve froyo bar is simply a matter of deciding how many toppings you can pile on before they start falling off, but for someone with coeliac disease, it's a very different experience.
 
Even when the frozen yoghurt itself is gluten-free, toppings like biscuits, brownies and wafers -  not to mention shared utensils and stray crumbs - can make cross-contact a real concern.
 
Canberra's newest froyo bar has taken that worry off the menu entirely.
 
Australia's first fully gluten-free, coeliac-safe self-serve frozen yoghurt bar has opened in Canberra City, where every yoghurt, topping and sauce on offer is gluten-free.
 
There are no separate gluten-free stations, no need to work out which toppings are safe and no shared gluten-containing options sitting alongside them. Instead, the entire bar has been designed so people with coeliac disease can build their froyo exactly the way everyone else does.
 
Its home is an unlikely one for a froyo first: Canberra fried chicken favourite Fricken. Fricken has long catered to coeliacs with a dedicated gluten-free menu and coeliac-safe preparation practices, but its new froyo bar takes things a step further by making the entire self-serve offering gluten-free.
 
The froyo bar is part of Fricken's new flagship Canberra City venue at Canberra Centre, marking the latest chapter for the homegrown brand that started life as a Canberra food truck back in 2018.
 
Alongside a rotating line-up of frozen yoghurt flavours and toppings, the bar also caters for those avoiding dairy, with dairy-free options available.
 
The idea came from wanting to create a self-serve experience where kids and adults with coeliac disease could simply enjoy themselves without having to navigate separate stations or ask staff which options were safe.
 
It's a small change to the traditional froyo model, but a pretty significant one for the estimated one in 70 Australians living with coeliac disease, particularly when strict lifelong avoidance of gluten is currently the only treatment for the condition.
 
The froyo bar forms part of Fricken's largest venue to date, which has also expanded the brand's savoury offering beyond its signature fried chicken with smashed beef burgers, bone-in chicken and poke bowls.
 
Sydney coeliacs heading to Canberra, you might want to save this one for the next road trip. Fricken Canberra City and its coeliac-safe froyo bar are now open at Canberra Centre on Bunda Street.