The Year in Froyo Review, 2021 Edition

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For our last post of the year, we’d like to recap the froyo events of 2021. There was still much uncertainty, with the ongoing pandemic, rising costs, and shortages of supplies and labor. But things were looking up with self-serve returning to most self-serve froyo shops by mid-2021. However the emergence of the Omnicron variant has brought a new wave of restrictions on businesses. Many foodservice shows, including the largest, the National Restaurant Show, were not held this year or took place online.

There were some significant milestones for the frozen yogurt industry. TCBY turned 40 this year. Yogurtland celebrated 15 years with a special frozen yogurt flavor, milk tea, inspired by their past history. The first Yogurtland opened inside a boba shop in Fullerton, California.

Yogurtland and Menchie’s introduced their first plant-based oat milk soft serve flavors, while 16 Handles continued partnering with Oatly to release new oat milk soft serve flavors.

Costco replaced froyo with soft serve ice cream and Delta started serving Souvla Greek froyo on select US flights. Ghost kitchens continued their growth, with Yogen Fruz announcing plans to open 100 locations inside ghost kitchens in the US and Canada next year.

Most Large Froyo Chains Continue to Shrink

The top 10 largest frozen yogurt chains accounted for approximately 2,351 locations, down from 2,552 locations in 2020, 2,816 locations in 2019 and 3,020 locations in 2018. While most of the largest froyo chains shrank this year, llaollao and Pinkberry managed to grow. Pinkberry opened their first location in Gabon this year and continues to grow in Africa. Llaollao remains the largest froyo chain in Europe and Asia. The largest froyo chains in 2021 were #1 Yogen Fruz, #2 Menchie’s, and #3 Pinkberry.

Looking at California, the state with the most froyo shops, there were 14 froyo shop openings this year and 28 froyo shop closures, compared to 19 openings and 37 closings in 2020. Of the 2021 closures, 60% part of a large frozen yogurt chain. Most of the closings were well-established shops (over 10 years old).

We found twelve new froyo trucks this year compared to five in 2020. Half of these new trucks were launched in the US.

The US frozen yogurt stores market size, as measured by revenues, has been declining for the past few years. The pandemic worsened the decline. IBISWorld reports that the market size of US frozen yogurt stores in 2021 was $802.5 million (compared to $826.1 million in 2020). Also, the market size of the US frozen yogurt stores industry declined 7.9% per year on average between 2016-2021. This decline is faster than the decline of the economy and the consumer goods and services sector. Keep in mind that 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.

Oat Milk Becomes the Most Popular Alternative Milk for Soft Serve

We found 76 new flavors this year compared to last year’s 55. New flavor introductions made a nice recovery but are still below pre-pandemic levels. Menchie’s led the way with 18 new flavors, followed by 16 Handles, with 14 new flavors.

New froyo flavors accounted for 58% of the new flavors introduced by froyo shops in 2021, compared to 50% in 2020. Of the non-froyo alternatives, non-dairy alternatives made with milk alternatives were the most popular, accounting for 20% of the new flavors, with oat milk the most popular of the milk alternatives. 

In terms of specific flavors, fruit flavors led the way again this year; fruit flavors were found in 34% of the new flavors (vs. 38% in 2020). The pastry/dessert flavors were found in 20% of new flavors, cookies tied with chocolate for third place; these flavors represented 15% of new flavors. Coffee and tea flavors accounted for 11% of new flavors.

IFYA News

We brought back the National Frozen Yogurt Survey. This fall, we surveyed froyo shop owners and froyo consumers in the Fifth Annual National Frozen Yogurt Survey.

The 2021 consumer survey found that respondents had returned to consuming froyo at the same frequency as before the pandemic. Cleanliness, which was the most important shop attribute in 2020, was #2 in 2021. When asked about their favorite shop, Pinkberry ranked #1. Concern with cost/value was mentioned more often this year.

As for the froyo shop owners, we found that most shops had returned to self-serve and recovered from the pandemic. Respondents were very concerned about rising costs.

During the summer, we held our annual contest. This year’s theme for the photo contest was Summer Froyo Creation. We were looking for the best picture of summer froyo. The winners, @ZeldaZonk13 and @_dashthedachshund, won a delivery of Bloomingdale’s Forty Carrots froyo.

And we partnered with Motimate and Spaceman US to offer members only savings on the award-winning employee training and motivation app and on soft serve freezers.

Froyo in the News