Froyo Shop Owner Survey Reveals the Current State of the Frozen Yogurt Industry

Fro-yo girl here. Last September, the International Frozen Yogurt Association launched the Second National Frozen Yogurt Shop Owner Survey. The anonymous online survey asked frozen yogurt shop owners in the US about operational practices, shop and owner characteristics, supplier satisfaction, concerns, and shop performance.

The goals of the survey were to:

• Provide shop owners with benchmarks to assess 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 

Shop Owner Survey Findings

The 2018 findings were very similar to the 2017 findings. 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. 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 concerned sampling policies and seasonal hours.

About the Respondents

Sixty-five responses were received 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%).

Respondent characteristics:

• 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

The full results are available for $150. To order the report or for more information, please contact at info@internationalfrozenyogurt.com

A limited set of results is available for IFYA members in the members only Resources section of IFYA’s website.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.