The IFYA Froyo Chain Store Location count is back! We decided to change the timing of this annual feature to December since that’s the best time to count 2015 openings.
The store counts are approximate and based on what’s listed on the chain’s website when available. Stores are constantly closing and opening. Also, we noticed a discrepancy between the number of shops listed on the corporate website and the number mentioned in press releases.
Growth has slowed for the entire frozen yogurt industry. Many chains are roughly the same size they were this time last year. While they’re still opening locations, other locations are closing. TCBY continues to shrink and Menchie’s continues to grow.
For last year’s results, see our August 2014 Chain Store Count post.
IFYA’s list of the largest frozen yogurt chains:
#1) YOGEN FRUZ: 1400 locations
Yogen Fruz’s website says they have “over 1300 stores in 42 countries” while their Facebook page says “Today, Yogen Früz has grown to more than 1400 locations operating in over 46 countries around the world.” The website requires an excessive amount of clicking to see the locations. They’re the largest chain by far and that’s not even counting their Yogurty’s locations. The parent company of Yogen Fruz also own Maui Wowi, Planet Smoothie, Cold Stone Creamery, Tasti D-Lite, etc. They’re all over.
#2) TUTTI FRUTTI FROZEN YOGURT: 550 locations
Tutti Frutti calls itself the “world’s largest self-serve frozen yogurt brand.” It’s difficult to find a list of their locations but the Tutti Frutti Australia website says they have over “700 stores in 26 countries” and the Tutti Frutti US Facebook page says they have 550 locations “nation and worldwide.” Last year they had “over 580 upcoming stores.”
#3) MENCHIE’S FROZEN YOGURT: 504 locations
Menchie’s, North America’s largest self-serve froyo chain, has over 500 locations worldwide. It expects to open store #600 in 2016. Menchie’s opened its first airport location this year, at Mineta San Jose International Airport. We counted 504 currently open locations on their website; coming soon stores were listed but not counted. There were 373 locations in the US, 111 in Canada and 20 outside of the US and Canada.
#4) SWEETFROG: 352 locations
sweetFrog was founded in 2009 in Virginia. A mid-November press release from sweetFrog states that sweetFrog has “352 stores including both company-owned, franchise and independently licensed locations either open or under contract in twenty-four in twenty four states in the U.S, Dominican Republic, United Kingdom and Egypt.” Note some of the locations aren’t open yet. We counted 353 locations on the sweetFrog website (perhaps they aren’t all open?), including 89 in Virginia and 7 outside the US. Their first location in UAE is coming soon. Last year they had 351 locations.
#5) TCBY: 327 locations
Once the world’s largest frozen yogurt chain, TCBY’s website states that they have over 350 locations in the US (it’s said that for the last few years). According to a manual count of the store locations, there are 286 US locations and 41 Canadian locations.
#6) YOGURTLAND: 300 locations
California based, self-serve frozen yogurt chain has been aggressively opening locations in California this year. They also opened new locations in Thailand, Dubai and other states in the US (e.g., NM, IL). They changed their website so that the store finder lets you see a few results but not the full list of locations. We believe there are about 300 locations – the same as last year.
#7) ORANGE LEAF FROZEN YOGURT: 293 locations
Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, based in Oklahoma, calls itself America’s Frozen Yogurt. The majority of its locations are in the US, with Australia being the only international market that it has a presence. We counted 288 locations in the US, including 57 locations in Texas. We saw five locations listed in Australia. They recently announced a development deal to bring Orange Leaf to the Middle East, with four locations to open in Dubai by the end of 2015.
#8) PINKBERRY: 266 locations
Pinkberry celebrated their 10th birthday in January and it introduced dairy free Pinkberry this year. It hasn’t been a good year for the froyo innovator with locations closing in the US including in the Los Angeles area. On the positive side they entered the Thailand market and increased their number of international locations from 94 last August to 113 this year (domestic locations declined from 158 to 139 locations). The newest location is their third in Jordan.
#9) RED MANGO USA: 200 locations
According to a recent press release from Red Mango, Red Mango USA has “more than 330 locations across the U.S., Mexico, El Salvador and Uruguay.” However, there were 177 total store locations based on a manual count of the locations listed on the Red Mango USA website; 56 were in New York. The Red Mango USA website says there are over “200 locations” nationwide. Red Mango locations are commonly found at universities, airports and inside other eateries like Chickpea and the Smoothie Factory. Last year Red Mango USA had 213 locations. This store count does not include Red Mango International locations which are listed on a different website (the International website doesn’t seem up-to-date since it lists locations that closed years ago).
#10) LLAOLLAO: 182 locations
Llaollao was founded in 2009 and is the largest chain in Spain, with 103 locations in Spain. It has a total of 182 locations in 20 countries.
