Last year, we wrote about the growing popularity of activated charcoal frozen yogurt, taiyaki filled with froyo, durian puffs, and raindrop cakes in Asia. Raindrop cakes were all over Instagram for a few months but the fad seems to be over.
After the fresh honeycomb trend, activated black charcoal froyo became the new thing. Now it seems like the new thing is the arrival of Llaollao in multiple Asian countries. Also, cheese tea and cheese tarts are all the rage but they haven’t been combined much with froyo shops, except at Sour Sally.
Current Froyo Trends in Asia
- Sour Sally Indonesia continues to innovate with its new limited edition white skim cheese flavor. It seems inspired by the popularity of cheese tea drinks. The company has also started several new ventures, including Gulu Gulu, Indonesia’s first authentic Taiwanese cheese tea and Tokiosei, the creators of the world’s first black yuzu cheese tart. Their White Gold, the world’s most expensive gelato, was discontinued in March 2018. Their newest offering is called Fruyo, fruity yogurt, and the first Fruyo flavor was Red Dragon Fruit. They are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year.
- Tokyo Bean in Bangkok, Thailand emphasizes health and beans. They make their own soy milk, Hokkaido froyo, soy soft serve, etc. Healthier toppings include red beans, green beans, grass jelly, gingko, candied pumpkin, mochi, honeycomb, chia seeds, flax seeds, granola, and fruit. Another Japanese inspired froyo place in Thailand, Hokkaido Froyo, serves Hokkaido froyo and cheese tea. The froyo can be ordered as part of a dessert plate.
- Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) started offering a froyo parfait in Singapore in November 2017.
- Craft & Culture (@craftculturesg) claims to have created the first milk kefir frozen yogurt in Singapore recently, beating Miss Kefir (@misskefirsg) which recently introduced frozen kefir as well.
- Brand new Malaysian froyo shop, Yzen Frozen Yogurt (@yzenfrozenyogurt), makes all natural frozen yogurt with purple sweet potatoes, #purpleisthenewwhite. They claim to be the first to create purple sweet potato frozen yogurt.
- Taiyaki filled froyo has a new variation. The croissant taiyaki popularized in Japan has spread to other countries, mostly in Asia. Croissant taiyaki can be found in cone form, topped with soft serve. However, croissant taiyaki is still difficult to find in the US, though more places now offer regular taiyaki filled with soft serve.
- In Korean supermarkets, frozen yogurt milkshakes have become popular (e.g., Yummy Belly). The packaging looks like a Yakult bottle and the products taste like Yakult as well. They’re sold in squeezable frozen pouches.
- Haagen Dazs released two limited edition frozen yogurt flavors in Singapore, plain and strawberry. We saw them all over Instagram.
Froyo Chains in Asia
It’s interesting how few froyo shops in Asia are self-serve. A greater emphasis is placed on the appearance of the froyo creation. This is why innovative and cute toppings are also more important in Asia than in the US. Perhaps this explains why full service Spanish brand and one flavor wonder, llaollao, has been the dominant foreign brand in Asia, with locations in Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. llaollao had 25 locations in Singapore until the master franchisee decided to change all the locations to Yole in December 2017. Yogorino, which also has one flavor, has 32 locations in Japan.
China has been a tough market for multiple frozen yogurt chains. Menchie’s, Yeh!, and Orange Leaf opened locations in China around 2014-2015. Menchie’s and Orange Leaf no longer mention any China locations on their websites. Yeh seems to still be open in China though the Yeh China Facebook page hasn’t been updated since 2015.
Menchie’s opened its first location in Singapore in 2014. The location was open for about a year. In Asia, they currently have 1 location in Japan and 7 in India. The locations in Mumbai and Pune were converted to My Froyoland. Pinkberry has had more success in Asia, with 7 locations in Japan, 6 locations in the Philippines, 5 locations in Thailand, and 1 in India. Yogurtland opened its first locations in South Korea and Myanmar last year. They have 2 locations in Singapore and 11 in Thailand. The Yogurtland locations in Thailand switched to flat rate pricing in March 2018.
