We are celebrating our seventh anniversary today! Seven years ago, we created the International Frozen Yogurt Association to promote the quality and success of the worldwide frozen yogurt industry. It’s been a tough year for frozen yogurt shops, restaurants, and most of us with the ongoing pandemic, stay at home orders, and civil unrest. Many froyo shops were closed for months because of the pandemic. Some were forced to close again or even vandalized during the protests.
Our website and membership numbers are down. But we’ve heard from some of our members and we feel great satisfaction that we can provide support during these troubled times. We will continue to provide advice to current and prospective froyo shop owners, track news and trends, and offer tools, resources, and member discounts.
Remember that our members can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on essentials for their frozen yogurt shops. These exclusive member discounts include frozen yogurt mix, frozen yogurt machines, toppings dispensers, payment processing, insurance, and HR/payroll services.
Our Association Includes 2,600 Members
This July, we have 2,600 members in over 127 countries. We added about 200 members over the past 12 months. While most (70%) of our members are in the US, followed by Canada, we clearly have a strong international presence, even in small countries. We are thrilled to have IFYA members in so many countries.
About 66% of our members are current (43%) frozen yogurt shop owners or employee and prospective (23%) frozen yogurt shop owners. We also represent frozen yogurt suppliers (9%) and fans. The distribution of membership types has been remarkably steady over the years.
The State of Froyo Today
The US frozen yogurt market has been declining and we expect the decline to accelerate due to the pandemic and civil unrest. According to IBIS World, the size of the US frozen yogurt market is $826.1 million, with the growth rate of stores of -1.6% and market size growth of -7.9% from 2015-2020. IBIS World estimated that between 2013-2018, revenue declined -5.6%. This decline is faster than the decline of the economy and the consumer goods and services sector. These numbers do not include other establishments that serve frozen yogurt but are not considered frozen yogurt stores, automated kiosks, or frozen yogurt sold in grocery stores.
Franchise growth is also declining in the US. Leading frozen yogurt franchises are focusing on existing locations, including using new products (non-dairy, plant-based soft serve demand continues to grow) and promotions to drive traffic to an aging store base and partnering with well-known brands. Growth is still occurring in some countries such as Ecuador, Mexico and Colombia.
IFYA State of Froyo Surveys
One of the ways the IFYA provides values is by tracking the state of the frozen yogurt industry. We brought back the National (US) Frozen Yogurt Survey for consumers and froyo shop owners, for the third time this fall.
The consumer survey results were quite similar to the results of last year’s survey. The top 3 key attributes that consumers seek in frozen yogurt shops remained the same. Some of the attributes they rated included the importance of offering a wide variety of frozen yogurt flavors, the self-serve format, and cleanliness. The top 3 non-froyo items consumers would consider getting from a frozen yogurt shop did not change. Three out of four respondents expressed willingness to pay more for quality froyo.
The US shop owners survey included questions such as how many hours a week do you spend managing the shop, what items does your shop sell, how well is your shop doing in terms of sales compared to this time last year, how satisfied are you with your decision to open your business, etc.
As for the shop owners, while more respondents reported that their business was doing better than doing worse over the past year, we did see an increase in the number of respondents who reported their shop was doing slightly worse. Fewer respondents expected business to be better in the next year compared to 2018 respondents. Rising costs are their main concern. Respondents were also fairly satisfied with their suppliers, especially their soft serve mix suppliers.
We will adjust both the consumer and shop owner surveys to capture the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Please look for the new US consumer and shop owner surveys this fall and participate. The more responses we receive, the more useful the results will be for everyone.
Our Anniversary Contest
We continued our tradition of having an anniversary contest with our Summer Froyo Photo Contest. Inspired by recent events, we invited frozen yogurt fans to share their froyo at home style with us for a chance to win froyo prizes. Congrats to our winner, @_dashthedachshund, who won an Orange Leaf sweatshirt and t-shirt for his parents.
As we take a look back at our past, we’d like to thank everyone that has supported us over the years, including our members, sponsors, partners, and supporters. We wouldn’t be here without you. Remember that you can help support us by supporting our corporate sponsors, partners, and advertisers when you’re looking for frozen yogurt supplies and by telling others about the frozen yogurt association.
Warmest Regards,
Susan Linton
President, International Frozen Yogurt Association
