Fro-yo girl here. Part II of my Frozen Yogurt Conference coverage is dedicated to the conference host, YoCream. As you may have heard, they were recently acquired by Group Danone, the world's largest yogurt manufacturer.
YoCream's management team remains and they're excited about the growth opportunities ahead. They're building a new fro-yo plant in the Midwest (and keeping the one in Oregon) and will be expanding their international presence significantly. While YoCream is already available in 18 countries, Danone has 150 manufacturing plants worldwide.
Factory Tour
Picture-taking wasn't allowed inside (but you can see pictures of the factory interior on their website) and we had to put on white coats, shoe covers, and hair nets before entering. The tour takes you through multiple rooms and each step is described (mixing & culturing, adding flavors, filling & packing, freezing, a visit to the quality assurance lab, shipping and storage, taste testing with the R&D group). It's noisy on the factory floor and the ground is wet. I initially envisioned that they could build something like the Jelly Belly factory observation deck and make it a tourist destination but I think that might be difficult (not enough space for a platform). I liked stepping inside the giant freezer and feeling surrounded by fro-yo...plus smelling fro-yo in the air.
Company Store
It does feel like a showroom...only for fro-yo...it's so shiny and clean. But it's open to the public. There are 10 flavors of self-serve fro-yo a day, fro-yo toppings, smoothies, waffles, and coffee. I like that they have the store because it helps them understand fro-yo store operations and provides material for YoCream University, the 2 day conference they offer (Fro-yo 101).
YoCream's Website
They're about to add some new features to the operator portal, including the ability to generate your own flavor strips, helpful FAQs (e.g., why is my fro-yo gritty?), and a points system where you can save up points and redeem them for marketing collateral (e.g., flavor of the day signs).
YoCream's passion for and commitment to frozen yogurt are inspirational. I'm excited for them and look forward to following their endeavors.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl here.
2 comments:
Do you know where is the midwest the new frozen yogurt factory is being built? Where did you get this information from? The reason I am asking I work for yocream and haven't heard of that. Thanks
Hi Cody,
The Midwest plant was mentioned during the YoCream factory tour in 2011. I don't know where they intended to build it or what has happened to the plans since then.
Best,
FYG
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