Last September, we invited frozen yogurt shop owners across the United States to take the Second National Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner Survey. The anonymous online survey asked about operational practices, shop and owner characteristics, supplier satisfaction, concerns, and shop performance.
This research project was inspired by the desire to learn more about the frozen yogurt industry by asking two key groups: consumers and shop owners. Our survey is the only one that measures consumer frozen yogurt attitudes and preferences and shop owner practices, outlook, concerns, etc.
The goals of the shop owner survey were to:
- Give shop owners a chance to learn how they compare to other frozen yogurt shops
- Help suppliers learn more about how shops felt about their suppliers
- Provide an overall sense of where the frozen yogurt industry is headed
- Learn how our association can better serve its shop owner members
Shop Owner Survey Findings
The shop owner survey included three questions to capture shop performance. One concerned the current performance of the shop. The second asked the owner to predict the shop’s performance over the next 12 months. Finally, we asked shop owners how satisfied they were with their decision to open their business.
Our 2018 findings were very similar to our 2017 findings. Our survey respondents were optimistic about the future of their business, though they were concerned about rising costs, finding and keeping good employees, finding new customers, and the seasonality of frozen yogurt demand. In addition, they were also fairly satisfied with their suppliers, especially their soft serve mix suppliers.
Two new questions were added at the request of last year’s respondents. The questions were about sampling policies and seasonal hours.
The survey asked how the IFYA could better serve its members. The most popular suggestion was to provide marketing ideas and tips. Respondents also wanted a tradeshow and networking opportunities, supplier reviews, off season tips, flavor recipes, and success stories of independent frozen yogurt shops. Thank you for these suggestions. We will definitely think about how to implement changes to be more helpful to our members.
About the Respondents
We received 65 responses from frozen yogurt shop owners. Responses were received from shops located in 20 states, with the most responses from California (12.1%), Michigan (8.6%) and North Carolina (8.6%). Most of our respondents shop owned one shop and were not part of a franchise.
- 89% are self-serve shops
- 75% are not part of a franchise
- 72% had no previous experience managing a foodservice establishment
Accessing the Survey Results
We shared our findings with those who took the survey, shared our survey posts, and the members of IFYA’s advisory board.
The full results are also available for $150. To order the report or for more information, please contact us at info@internationalfrozenyogurt.com
A limited set of results is available for IFYA members in the members only Resources section of our website.
