Yogen Früz

History

Yogen Früz was founded in 1986 by brothers Michael Serruya and Aaron Serruya, who opened the firm's first outlet, in August 1986 at The Promenade Shopping Centre in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The umlaut over the "u" in the store's name is an example of foreign branding.

The store offered made-to-order frozen yogurt in cups as well as frozen shakes mixed with fresh fruit; it was successful, and within a year the company's first franchises opened in London, Ontario. By 1989 Yogen Früz franchised its 100th store. A younger brother, Simon, joined the company in 1989 at the age of 18, while their father sold his typesetting business to oversea offices in Europe.

In December 2005, International Franchise Corp. acquired Yogen Früz and CoolBrands International's franchise division.

Today, the company serves proprietary probiotic frozen yogurt, both mixed with fruit(s) and soft serve, and both dairy and non-dairy smoothies. It is the largest franchiser of stores serving primarily frozen yogurt, with over 1,400 locations operating in more than 46 countries. The company aims to brand itself as a healthy-choice lifestyle product.

Menu

Yogen Früz developed a unique blending system which combines its frozen yogurt bars with freshly frozen fruits, allowing customers to choose their own custom blend. Custom frozen yogurt blends can be created into frozen yogurt cups or smoothies.

Yogen Früz has created frozen yogurt versions of favourite dessert treats called Ü Sensations, flavors under this label include Strawberry Cheesecake, Apple Pie, Chai Latte, Piña Colada, and more.

Yogen Früz menu items can be customized into low-fat, non-dairy, no-fat, or no sugar added desserts.

Business strategy and organization

The firm frequently uses "master franchisees", who can obtain the rights either to open stores directly or sell franchise licenses to others. Master franchisees are granted for periods varying between ten and twenty years, and usually require the franchisee to open a minimum number of outlets each year. Additionally, the firm uses a non-traditional method of expansion involving co-branding, which allowed for the mingling of Yogen Früz products with other known food services by way of "mini-counters" in established stores. As of 2008, master franchise agreements and co-branding remain the firm's main business.

The Serruya brothers initially sought expansion overseas rather than compete in the United States, because frozen yogurt dessert shops had already neared market saturation in the United States in the 1980s, and, unlike today, the average consumer was then neither familiar with nor accepting of the taste of yogurt. In early 1995 Yogen Früz franchisees operated 170 outlets in Canada, which comprised 80 percent of the frozen yogurt market in Canada. As of 2007, Yogen Früz has over 1,200 stores operating in over 25 countries including the United States,

In 2008, the company announced its new store design and branding, which was designed to be applied to small and large outlets in both malls and free-standing stores.

On January 14, 2010, Archeology Investments announced a master franchise agreement which grants rights to the company to open shops in Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

In February 2014, Diet & Lite Trading – an Abu Dhabi-based company and member of the Khalifa Fund – obtained the master franchise rights for the UAE.