It’s mid-December and time for our annual froyo chain location count. The location count is one measure of how the largest froyo chains grew or shrunk this year.
The top 10 largest frozen yogurt chains accounted for approximately 2,816 locations, down from 3,020 locations in 2018, down from 3,955 locations in 2017. The number of frozen yogurt stores is declining, though we did see three chains grow, primarily due to partnerships. We’re keeping an eye on the growth of froyo in Mexico.
The List of Largest Froyo Chains by Location Count
#1) MENCHIE’S: 506 locations (-18 locations vs. 2018)
Menchie’s continues to hold the title of the world’s largest frozen yogurt chain. While Tutti Frutti and Yogen Fruz claim to have more locations, those claims are difficult to verify or seem outdated. Menchie’s actually lists all its locations on their website. Although Menchie’s has fewer locations this year, it only shrunk a little. As of December 2019, Menchie’s had 427 locations (84%) in the US, 58 (11%) in Canada, and 21 (4%) in other countries. You can find the most Menchie’s locations in California (105), Texas (49), and Florida (45).
#2) YOGEN FRUZ: 500 locations (+6 locations vs. 2018)
While Yogen Fruz hasn’t updated its claim to have “over 1400 stores in 47 countries” in years, the website lists 500 stores in 23 countries. Many of the locations are inside another business (e.g., Swensen’s, Pita Pit, movie theaters). The most Yogen Fruz locations can be found in the Dominican Republic, with 151 locations. The number of locations in Canada actually increased to 108, thanks to the new partnership with Pita Pit. There are 49 Yogen Fruz locations in the US.
#3) YOGURTLAND: 300 locations (-20 locations vs. 2018)
Yogurtland’s website makes it difficult to access a list of all current locations. To find a location, you need to search by zip code. A recent Yogurtland press release, dated December 2, 2019 states that, ” Presently Yogurtland has more than 300 locations across the U.S., Australia, Dubai, Guam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Oman, Singapore and Thailand.” Last year, the same statement said they had more than 320 locations. Our guess is that they have fewer locations than last year. It looks like there are no locations left in Venezuela. However, Yogurtland opened new locations in Indonesia this year.
#4) SWEETFROG: 290 locations (-52 locations vs. 2018)
sweetFrog was acquired last year. Their website was redesigned and while it used to be easy to see a list of all their locations, that’s no longer the case. A sweetFrog press release dated November 4, 2019 states, ” There are approximately 300 sweetFrog locations in over 25 states and the Dominican Republic.” Our guess is that they have fewer than 300 locations.
#5) PINKBERRY: 258 locations (+22 locations vs. 2018)
This one surprised us, since Pinkberry continues to close US locations. However, the Second Cup partnership added 100 locations in Canada. There are 76 locations in the US. We could not determine how many locations were outside the US and Canada but we estimated the number based on the number open last year, 110. Pinkberry entered the Liberia market this year.
#6) LLAOLLAO: 227 locations (+48 locations vs. 2018)
Llaollao’s growth was impressive. As the dominant player in its home country of Spain, it has 110 locations in Spain (64%). The next biggest market is Indonesia, where are 43 locations. The current and future locations were listed on the website.
#7) TCBY: 220 locations (-80 locations in 2018)
While we’re not sure if TCBY or Tutti Frutti has more locations, we’re going to go with TCBY as #6 because the TCBY website lists all the locations in the US. We counted 220 locations. There are likely more than 220 since they may have international locations, but we were unable to obtain a count of the international locations. In the US, Illinois has the most TCBY locations, with 32.
#8) TUTTI FRUTTI: 219 locations (-??? vs. 2018)
It’s very difficult to guess how many Tutti Frutti locations remain open, since the website information is old and inaccurate and we’ve seen many different claims. The Tutti Frutti US website says that there are 550 locations but that number hasn’t changed for years. Our guess is that maybe half of the 550 are still open today.
#9) YOGORINO: 165 locations (-5 locations vs. 2018)
Yogorino had a steady year. Last year, there were 106 locations in Italy. This year, there were 103. There were a few openings in the Philippines.
#10) ORANGE LEAF: 131 locations (-25 locations vs. 2018)
Orange Leaf continues to shrink. All the locations are in the US, with 44 in Texas. Last December, there were 50 locations in Texas. The website lists all the locations.
Our Methodology
Our store location counts are based on what’s listed on the chain’s website as of mid-December 2019. We also consider whether the information seemed current. While not all chains keep their website information current or make it easy to access location information, most seem to be keep the website information current.
If we could not determine the store location counts from the chain’s website or the website appeared outdated, we looked at recent press releases. However, we placed less confidence in location counts that were not obtained from the chain’s up-to-date website with a list of current locations.
