It’s time for our annual review of froyo events the 2016 edition. As usual, there are a lot of events to cover. Let’s take a look back at the year in froyo.
Milestones
Yogen Fruz turned 30 this year. To mark the occasion, they gave away 30,000 cups of free froyo, introduced three new cheesecake flavors and had the Designed by U cup design contest.
Yogurtland celebrated its tenth anniversary with a special anniversary spoon and by bringing back some fan favorite flavors.
Orange Leaf made the first froyo delivery by drone (ever) to Hope College.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Ablak Holdings acquired the assets and franchisor rights to Sincerely Yogurt, a Pittsburgh-based chain with 23 locations.
MTY Food Group Inc. acquired Kahala Brands, Ltd., parent company of 18 brands, including Pinkberry, Tasti D-Lite, Cold Stone Creamery, Maui Wowi, Surf City Squeeze and Planet Smoothie.
Premier Restaurant Group acquired the 28 unit Forever Yogurt in July 2016.
New Firms and Notable Openings and Closures
Aurel LLC is a new company that manufactures soft serve machines in Sanford, FL. They employed the former Argosy engineering team.
Elvaria was a manufacturer of soft serve machines based in Virginia. It is now out of business.
Samba Swirl ceased operations in January 2016 after operating in the UK after 5 years. Many other frozen yogurt shops have closed in London. On a happier note, Pinkberry returned to London in June.
Yogurtland’s assets in PA & NJ were liquidated and they closed multiple locations on the East Coast, including Ithaca, NY and Columbus Ave. in NYC.
Target added Freshii to select locations in the Chicago area last year and to multiple locations in Southern California this year. These locations serve frozen yogurt.
Chillbox opened in Times Square, NYC. They’re charging 99 cents an ounce.
Menchie’s entered the Indian market while Yogurtland opened its first location in Singapore. Yogorino opened its first location in South Korea.
New Collectible Froyo Spoons
If you’re a frozen yogurt spoon collector, here are the spoons you should have picked up this year.
Yogurtland: Kung Fu Panda 3 (Master Shifu, Po, Tigress, Bao, Mei Mei), Nintendo (Yoshi, Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, Bowser), 10th Anniversary spoon, Trolls (Poppy, Branch)
Menchie’s: Angry Birds (Chuck, Matilda, Piggie, Bomb, Red), Ice Age: Collision Course (2 designs), Plants vs. Zombies (zombie, plant guy), Halloween (Chip with a spiderweb, Mookie with a ghost), Christmas spoon (Menchie holding a gingerbread cookie)
16 Handles: Froyo cup, Heart spoons
New Offerings
Yogurtland tested new offerings including Zoom (frozen yogurt blended with toppings), gelato sandwiches (vanilla gelato with chocolate chip cookies), smoothies, and Snow.
Menchie’s tested waffles, coffee and packaged snacks.
Orange Leaf introduced Swizzles which blends frozen yogurt and toppings.
Forever Yogurt now offers Sweet Street Desserts at their Niles and Gold Coast locations and Caribou Coffee at their Logan Square and Niles locations.
Special Promotions
Movie and video game promotions continued to be popular for Menchie’s and Yogurtland, but the popularity of Pokemon Go made it possible for even smaller shops to benefit from video game tie-ins.
Froyo Alternatives
Frozen custard, soft serve gelato, milk alternatives (coconut milk, almond milk) and other froyo alternatives continued to be adopted by frozen yogurt shops. Pinkberry introduced its first vegan flavor made with coconut milk, while Menchie’s launched new flavors made with coconut milk and almond milk. Yogen Fruz launched Creamy Vegan Coconut soft serve. In addition, sweetFrog started offering frozen custard.
Flavor Contests
There were several flavor creation competitions where froyo fans were asked to submit their froyo flavor ideas. Cookie butter was the winning flavor in Tutti Frutti Canada’s competition while wasabi won the Yogurt Lab competition. The winner of Orange Leaf’s Creation Sensation competition will work with the flavor team at Orange Leaf to develop a new flavor, to be released in 2017.
Timeline of Noteworthy Froyo Events
- January 4: Yogurtland celebrates DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 3 movie with froyo flavors inspired by Kung Fu Panda 3 characters, along with Kung Fu Panda 3 cups and spoons.
- January 4: Menchie’s partners with The HERSHEY Company for a new flavor, Classic Chocolate Malt, made with WHOPPERS Malted Milk Balls and a sweepstakes with a grand prize of a trip to Hersheypark.
- January 22: Menchie’s introduces its first flavor made with a dairy alternative. Tahitian Vanilla is a vegan flavor made with Indonesian coconut milk and sweetened with organic agave syrup.
- February 1: Menchie’s partners with Nestle for two new flavors, Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar made with Butterfinger and Chocolate Candy Bar made with Nestle
- March 1: Menchie’s teams up with PEEPS for Marshmallow Mania, which includes a new flavor inspired by PEEPS, PEEPS Chicks as a toppings option and a PEEPS sweepstakes
- March 16: Yogen Fruz announces Designed by Ü contest. Fans are invited to submit 30 anniversary cup designs. The winning cup design will be featured at Yogen Fruz stores.
- March 16: The assets of Yogurtland locations in PA and NJ are auctioned off by order of the court
- March 24: Yogurtland kicks off the Fourth Annual Flavor Quest with nine global flavors and three new toppings.
- April 1: Dannon YoCream expands its gelato line with two new flavors, Banana Flambe and Creamy Limoncello
- April 1: Menchie’s partners with Electronic Arts, the makers of Plants vs. Zombies GW2, for a new promotion. The promotion includes new spoons and cup designs.
- April 12: Fresh Healthy Vending International launches the Reis & Irvy’s franchise of interactive, robotic frozen yogurt kiosks
- April 12: Orange Leaf hires the Orange Unicorn as a spokesthingie and around this time also announces flat rate pricing
- April 18: Yogurtland introduces its new Express concept by opening a full-service kiosk at Petco Park. Yogurtland Express adds locations at Petco Park, Angels Stadium, and Raging Waters.
- April 26: Orange Leaf celebrates its “You Be You Day” with free froyo
- April 27: Pinkberry introduces its first vegan flavor made with coconut milk
- April 29: Menchie’s partners with The Angry Birds Movie for a promotion that includes four limited edition flavors, Angry Birds gummy toppings, character spoons, and specialty cups.
- May 9: Menchie’s expands to India, opening locations in Pune and Mumbai
- June 3: Pinkberry launches lowfat milk ice cream, Pinkbee’s, and luxe honey toppings
- June 11: Pinkberry returns to London with a new shop in Islington
- June 23: Yogurtland partners with Nintendo for a Game On flavor adventure with flavors inspired by Nintendo’s superstars, cups and collectible spoons.
- June 29: Menchie’s partners with Twentieth Century Fox’s animated film, Ice Age: Collision Course for two new sorbets, cups and collectible spoons.
- July 6: Pokemon Go launches and draws people to frozen yogurt shops
- July 7: Edible Arrangements seeks to remake the brand with a new Edible to Go concept. The new concept includes smoothies, frozen yogurt and fruit bowls.
- July 21: Yogorino opens first location in South Korea
- July 26: As part of the Celebrity Swirl campaign, Pinkberry New England and chef Tiffani Faison develop a new flavor, sweet corn yogurt with blueberry compote and a brown sugar buttermilk crumble
- August 1: 16 Handles and Skinnygirl announce their partnership, new Pink Grapefruit Skinnygirl sorbet to arrive at stores during the summer
- September 1: Menchie’s partners with Nestle Nescafe for two new flavors, Caramel Frappe and Vanilla Latte, made with Nescafe
- September 7: Orange Leaf launches Operation Original program in partnership with No Kid Hungry, to raise fund to help end childhood hunger in America
- September 9: Animated film, Storks, partners with Menchie’s to bring special movie themed cups to stores
- October 1: Menchie’s partners with M&Ms to bring new flavors, Milk Chocolate Candy made with M&Ms
- October 5: Orange Leaf successfully delivers froyo to Hope College using a drone, marking the first time that froyo has been delivered by drone.
- October 7: Menchie’s celebrates World Smile Day and spreads smiles throughout the month of October
- October 20: Trolls take over Yogurtland. Yogurtlad introduces 10 flavors inspired by the DreamWorks Animation film, Trolls. The promotion will also include two collectible spoons, cups and a fun new topping.
- October 27: sweetFrog introduces frozen custard offering
- November 1: Yogen Fruz partners with the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and creates a special flavor called Kayla’s Flavür
- November 1: Menchie’s to roll out limited time holiday flavors, 4 in November and 4 in December
- November 2: Pinkberry introduces a new flavor, Peppermint Cookies & Cream
- November 28: sweetFrog joins the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign, giving customers the chance to purchase special pin-ups and special festive apparel
- December 8: Yogurtland opens its first location in Singapore
For more on the frozen yogurt industry in 2016, see our posts on new flavors, new froyo trucks, and the froyo chain location count.
