Goodbye 2013. Here’s our annual review of the notable events in the frozen yogurt industry this year.
Froyo spoons. Let’s start with limited edition frozen yogurt spoon designs. Froyo spoon collectors should have added the following collectible froyo spoons to their collection:
- Yogurtland’s orange spoon, distributed on National Frozen Yogurt Day
- Menchie’s Mookie spoon
- Yogurtland Looney Tunes character spoons, 6 designs featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Tweety, Road Runner, Tazmanian Devil
- Menchie’s color changing spoons, 8 different character spoons: Chip, Barry, Menchie, Mookie, Sprinkle, Mallow, P.B., Kiwi
- Menchie’s red holiday spoon
Froyo apps. Did you download Menchie’s Smile World app and the updated Yogurtland, Pinkberry and Red Mango mobile apps? It’s not just large froyo chains that have mobile apps though. Many smaller ones have them as well. There are many build your own virtual cup of froyo apps out there to keep you entertained.
Reusable froyo cups. If you live near Menchie’s and Yogurtland, you had the opportunity to purchase 3 different Smurfs cups from Menchie’s and a set of 2 Looney Tunes Yogurtland cups.
Cup dividers. Frozen yogurt cup dividers made out of paper, waffle cones or cookies have been spotted at a growing number of shops, including Orange Leaf, Froyoworld, Yumberries, Yotopia, Cherry on Top, CherryBerry, Wakaberry, etc.
Supermarket froyo. In the supermarket, the same players were still in the frozen yogurt section of the freezer. Some like Ben & Jerry’s and Ciao Bella came out with new flavors and new products. Ben & Jerry’s introduced Liz Lemon named after the 30 Rock character, pineapple passionfruit and vanilla honey caramel Greek froyo. New entrant, ProYo, a high protein frozen yogurt, launched in California and has plans to expand its distribution in 2014.
Froyo in the news. Notable froyo promotions, events and milestones included:
- February 6: National Frozen Yogurt Day
- March 4: Yogurtland Flavor Quest launches
- April: Expansion of Pinkberry Greek to additional stores nationwide
- May 27: Yogurtland Summer Refreshers flavors launched May 27
- July 1-31: Menchie’s becomes S’Menchies with Smurfs cups, Smurfberry froyo, and Smurfy toppings
- July 8 – September 9: Yogurtland Looney Tunes promotion with new spoons, new flavors, new toppings
- July 29: International Frozen Yogurt Association launches
- August 8: TCBY and Silk launch non-dairy froyo
- August 13: Red Mango opens 250th location
- August 21: Yogen Fruz owners buys Cold Stone Creamery
- September 26: Yogurtland opens 250 location
- September 29: Matthew Stonie eats 10.5 lbs of froyo in 6 minutes to win the froyo eating competition at the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival
- October 7: Yogurtland Fan Choice Award voting begins
- November 7: Menchie’s opens its 350th store
- November 11: Yogurtland Walking in a Winter Yogurtland promotion begins with two new flavors every week for six weeks
- November 20: Menchie’s opens its first location in China
We will continue to follow frozen yogurt news in 2014. To keep up with froyo industry news, visit our Press Room or subscribe to our free monthly enewsletter.
