The IFYA Turns Four

The International Frozen Yogurt Association was launched on July 29, 2013. Today, it celebrates its fourth anniversary. I wanted to share the IFYA's anniversary message. It's an important one for froyo fans and those in the frozen yogurt industry.

The IFYA Anniversary Message

State of Froyo Today

According to a recent report by Technavio, the frozen yogurt industry had a value of $2.39 billion in 2016, with a projected value in 2021 of $3.96 billion. IBIS World estimates that the growth rate of the frozen yogurt industry from 2011-2016 was 11.6%. According to Technavio, the “frozen yogurt market in the US is expected to grow at a CAGR of almost 11% from 2017-2021.”

The US market for frozen yogurt has slowed and many shops have closed or been acquired. During the consolidation period, surviving frozen yogurt businesses need to build their brands, offer something different and stay open to innovation. The IFYA helps frozen yogurt store owners keep track of trends and best practices, as well as offer discounts for a wide range of goods and services, and access to industry experts.

New Project, The National Frozen Yogurt Survey

The IFYA is currently working on an ambitious new project, to better understand the state of frozen yogurt in the US today. To do this, we’ll need to hear from both frozen yogurt consumers and frozen yogurt shop operators.

For shops, we’d like to learn what their main concerns are, their costs, key operational practices, satisfaction with suppliers, etc. For consumers, we’d like to learn how brand loyal they are, how they would rate the largest froyo chains, what drives them to go to a froyo shop, what might increase their visit frequency, etc.

We’re looking for project partners. Partners could provide the prizes for frozen yogurt consumers or shop operators and/or help distribute the survey, in exchange for more of the survey results data and analysis. If you think you might be interested, please contact us at info@internationalfrozenyogurt.com

If all goes well, this could be an annual survey. The results will be useful for froyo shops and suppliers. The more responses we get, the better and more reliable our results will be.

Our Association is 1,800 Members Strong

Last July we had 1,400 members in 104 countries. Since then, we've grown to 1,800 members strong. This July, we have over 1,800 members in 108 countries. While most of our members are in the US, we clearly have an international presence. There are IFYA members in Albania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar, and of course many other countries.

IFYA members include frozen yogurt store operators and employees (42%), prospective frozen yogurt store operators (23%), frozen yogurt fans (14%), frozen yogurt industry suppliers (9%), and other (12%).

We’ve reached several big milestones in social media, including over 2,500 followers on Twitter, over 1,100 followers on Pinterest, over 1,600 followers on Instagram (almost 1,000 new followers in the last year) and nearly 700 Facebo0k fans.

Offering Greater Membership Value

Our members can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on essentials for their frozen yogurt shops. IFYA members continued to enjoy exclusive member discounts on frozen yogurt mix, frozen yogurt machines, toppings dispensers, cup dividers, payment processing, insurance and HR/payroll services.

FrozenSolutions.com and Aurel LLC offered limited time IFYA member discounts on cups, spoons and soft serve machines. Both Preferred Connect Insurance Center and FrozenDesssertSupplies.com increased the discount offered to our members.

New Website Features

We launched the new website design at the end of last year and reorganized the article library. These changes were undertaken to make it easier to find what you’re looking for on our website.

Corporate Sponsors

In addition to our advisory board and frozen yogurt industry experts, we're thrilled to enjoy the support of our corporate sponsors. A huge thank you to our sponsors for helping us as we strive to promote the quality and success of the frozen yogurt industry:

• FrozenDessertSupplies.com
• Dannon YoCream

Please support our corporate sponsors and our advertisers when you're looking for frozen yogurt supplies.

Contest

We continued our tradition of having an anniversary contest with the Far-Out Froyo Flavors contest. Frozen yogurt fans were invited to share their most creative, appealing froyo flavor ideas for a chance to win a sweet prize package.

The winning flavor, White Peach Oolong Tea froyo, was submitted by @xtracetracex on Instagram.


Warmest Regards,



Susan Linton

President, International Frozen Yogurt Association

National Frozen Yogurt Month: Reflections on the froyo industry

Fro-yo girl here. It’s June which means National Frozen Yogurt Month is back! In fact, National Frozen Yogurt Month is now celebrating its 23rd year. Frozen yogurt is far from new and it’s not a fad either. A fad peaks early and declines very quickly; it is short-lived like the cronut, roti buns or shaved snow/ice. As you can see from Google Trends, interest in frozen yogurt does peak during the summer months but that interest is gradually falling as the frozen yogurt industry has reached the maturity stage of the product category life cycle. The peak occurred in 2012-2013. Note how the cronut has the classic pattern of a fad. It peaked and faded quickly.

Interest in frozen yogurt as measured by search volume remains greatest in the US, followed by Canada, Greece, Denmark, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Consolidation began in the frozen yogurt industry a few years back and it’s continuing today as larger players buy regional and smaller chains and competitors leave the market. In the maturity stage, the industry mostly has larger, well-established competitors. For frozen yogurt, that’s Menchie’s, Yogurtland, Orange Leaf, sweetFrog, Yogen Fruz, etc. Companies can encourage frozen yogurt consumption by targeting new users like the vegan/dairy-free crowd or increasing consumption among current customers through promotions and loyalty programs. It’s also a good time to improve product quality. I’ve noticed that in Australia, many of the frozen yogurt shops are emphasizing the quality of their frozen yogurt.

Frozen yogurt has something going for it that food fads like cronuts, shaved ice and roti buns don’t have. First, it has a health halo thanks to the live and active cultures and lower fat content than ice cream. People can eat frozen yogurt often and not feel guilty about it. Second, frozen yogurt is versatile. It can be a snack or a meal any time of day. Third, frozen yogurt shops are a place to socialize. Frozen yogurt shops are a good place to go for a treat after dinner, on a date or hanging out with friends.

Looking at the future of froyo, I’d like to see:

• a greater emphasis on frozen yogurt quality not quantity
• unique flavors and offerings
• smaller cup sizes for counter serve shops

Shops that survive should offer something unique rather than be just like the frozen yogurt shop down the block. If froyo servings were smaller (e.g., 3-5 ounces), I could have froyo more often, like after dinner or after lunch. Even with the self-serve places I’m tired of HUGE cups.

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.