The following article is the contribution of Kristopher D. Hassett, IFYA Advisory Board Member & Managing Director of American Food Mix
Creating Custom Froyo Mix for Your Operations Can Add Tremendous Value to Your Brand and Bottom Line — That’s Truly Sweet!
By Kristopher D. Hassett
Let’s face it, there are lots of different frozen yogurt shops, concepts, and formats all vying for customer attention and favor. A few years ago it seemed like all it took was to let the customer pull the handles on the machine and fill his/her own cup and the novelty of that alone was sufficient. However, as we move ahead into 2016, frozen yogurt shop owners are faced with a more competitive market in which it is increasingly difficult to stand out. At the end of the day, the liquid or powdered frozen yogurt bases many shops are using are generally from a handful of the same suppliers. Without any major differentiation on formulation, customers have come to expect the product will generally be average or so-so, regardless of where they go. Customers come, they purchase, and consume product that they are mildly satisfied with, but they are not loyal customers who crave a specific product.
Smaller multi-unit operations or those with franchise aspirations should not overlook the opportunity to develop a product and flavor profile that is uniquely different and to set a standard that can create a loyal customer following. Often developing proprietary mix is assumed to be too costly of a project to undertake. However, American Food Mix has streamlined this process and is able to provide small and mid-size operators with a proprietary frozen yogurt treat that customers will notice as superior in quality and taste at a reasonable cost for operators. Offering unique products are why brands like Pinkberry, Menchie’s, Yogurtland and the like do very well. They own the branding they have created and they have ownership and complete control over the product they are serving.
American Food Mix is usually able to create a product within 5-7 working days. We recommend testing the mix in your shop. It could be as short as 30 days to having your own, branded proprietary mix that you can guarantee no one else in town is serving.
And one more thing, once you have created a proprietary base formulation(s) the ability to create multiple custom flavor profiles becomes incredibly easy and profitable!
About Kris: Kris, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, has a long history in the food and beverage industry, including working for some of the most demanding fine dining kitchens in Manhattan and as an international foodservice equipment export sales manager for a highly respected New York City based company. After traveling around the world several times, doing business in over 20 countries and observing the continued need for an export oriented American F&B focused concept and design facility, Kristopher founded American Food Mix in 2014.
About American Food Mix: American Food Mix delivers uniquely American equipment and ingredients, as well as complete branded concepts that are selected to be high quality and with innovative, thoughtful design. Our comprehensive global vision gives the advantage of sustainable market and sales development for our partners. We leverage a strong global network of dealers and distributors active on 5 continents that assists our customers to achieve success on any scale project. AFM offers its clients the unique ability to supply branded menu programs offering both cooking equipment and ingredients that deliver foodservice operators profitable results. AFM believes strongly in a “service before sales “approach and takes the time to understand our customer’s scope and specific requirements in order to provide stable, innovative foodservice solutions. We believe taking the time to put our customers first and engage in responsible and sustainable sales and marketing practices to deliver the best possible results.
