C S P October 2013 225
RaceTrac is trying it. So are
Casey’s, Love’s, The Pantry and
Pilot Flying J, not to mention
a good number of regional chains and
independents.
Reflecting the trends toward snacking,
customization and better-for-you foods,
soft-serve frozen-yogurt is appearing in
c-stores around the country as retail-
ers hope to ride the wave started by the
restaurant industry nearly 10 years ago.
They’re rolling in shiny new machines,
setting up vast toppings bars and training
customers to understand the pay-by-the-
ounce concept.
In the restaurant industry, the frozen-
Segment resurgence a win for c-store impulse sales
By Abbie Westra || [email protected]
Ounce Pounce: Customers serve themselves at Swirls n Sweets, where the frozen yogurt costs 45 cents per ounce.
Frozen-Yogurt Revival
C S P October 2013 227
yogurt segment continues to grow as
operators are attracted to its small foot-
print, low labor requirements and quick
ROI. Despite market saturation in some
cities, consumers continue to gravitate
toward the segment to satiate their sweet
tooth in a healthy, economical way.
For c-stores, the risks restaurateurs
face—buying the real estate, making it a
destination—are minimized: You already
have the store, and the hundreds of other
SKUs on your shelves make frozen yogurt
more likely to be an impulse sale than a
traffi c driver, at least to start.
But today’s frozen-yogurt concepts
have evolved since the 1980s craze, and
c-stores will be challenged by the quality,
fl avor profi les and price point consumers
have come to expect. A successful pro-
gram will rely on a strong operational
plan and aggressive marketing.
Steady GrowthFrozen yogurt’s resurgence began around
2005, when Red Mango and Pinkberry
began infi ltrating the marketplace. Not
your mom’s TCBY, these new concepts
surprised consumers with a tart flavor
profile, funky toppings from Nutella
to mochi, and a self-serve, pay-by-the-
ounce format.
While the typical demographic of
these concepts is the 16- to 34-year-old
female, the segment actually sees a broad
base of ages and genders, says Darren
Tristano, executive vice president of Tech-
nomic Inc., Chicago. Its popularity and
growth can also be attributed to timing:
The by-weight format was perceived as
an economical indulgence through the
recession, and the health halo certainly
helped, too.
For the operator or franchisee,
Tristano likens the segment’s attraction
to Subway: There are so many of them in
large part because “you can open a store
with small square footage, low labor and
a small upfront investment,” he explains.
“You don’t need a lot of revenue to get to
profi tability.”
While most c-stores will
opt to slide a few frozen-
yogurt machines into
their foodservice
o r d i s p e n s e d -
beverage offer,
Warrenton Oil
Co., which runs
33 stores under
the FastLane ban-
ner, opted to go all in
and open its own stand-
alone frozen-yogurt shop.
About a year ago, the Warrenton,
Mo.-based chain opened Swirls n Sweets,
a brand it developed internally. It went
into an endcap of the company’s building
that houses a FastLane c-store and—tip
of the hat to Tristano—a Subway.
“We work to bring both brands
together by taking samples of yogurt
to the pumps to draw awareness to the
yogurt shop,” says Laura Wacker, direc-
tor of foodservice. The shop features a
fun, energetic design with a pink, yellow
and green color palette, crisp whites and a
curving, tiled wall showcasing the built-in
Taylor frozen-yogurt dispensers. There is
plenty of seating and six machines, for a
total of 18 fl avor choices. Flavors vary from
traditional strawberry with real fruit pieces
to more unique offerings such as Ooey
Gooey Cinnamon Bun.
Guests customize their treat at
the 30-item toppings bar, which
includes fresh-cut fruit, sauces, assorted
candy toppings and nuts. “Children love
the gummy bears and worms, while the
adults go for the more indulgent toppings
such as caramel turtles, peanut butter
cups and malted-milk-ball top-
pings,” says Wacker.
T h e s t a n d - a l o n e
Swirls n Sweets opened
last September, and
ear l ier this year
FastLane brought
a scaled-down ver-
sion into one of its
c-stores. Three hun-
dred square feet were set
aside near the front, which
houses four machines, 12 fla-
vors (including twist combinations) and
a 30-topping bar.
Customers pay 45 cents per ounce and
have the choice of a 16- or 20-ounce cup
or a waffl e cone. The company continues
to monitor both concepts to see how to
expand the concept to other locations.
Meanwhile, in Savannah, Ga., Enmark
Stations Inc. is testing a self-serve frozen-
yogurt program in 10 of its 62 stores.
Two locations were new builds that had
the frozen-yogurt program designed
into the fl oor plan; at the other locations,
slow-moving products or programs were
“Actively promoting frozen yogurt in c-stores
plays a vital role in attracting new customers,
resulting in repeat visits and increased
check averages.”
Sustaining Growth: Nearly 10 years after the trend began with West Coast chain Pinkberry, the
self-serve frozen-yogurt segment continues to grow.
C S P October 2013 227
phased out to make room for the new offer.
Enmark uses Italian-made Bras
B-Cream machines, which take up about
12 inches of linear space each. Toppings
use another 2 to 5 linear feet depending
on the store, says Matt Clements, director
of marketing.
Like FastLane, Enmark offers a wide
variety of flavors, from the traditional to
the trendy, such as birthday-cake-flavored
frozen yogurt. Toppings include hot syr-
ups, cold fruit, nuts, sprinkles, cereals
and candy.
So far, the company sees the program
as a success. Clements anticipates the
chain will adjust to have more machines in
higher-volume stores and take machines
out of slower-moving locations.
Getting the Word OutWhile c-stores can rely on a frozen-
yogurt program as an impulse purchase,
it can—and should—become a destina-
tion through thorough marketing and
promotions.
A couple of Enmark’s stores have
become a destination for self-serve frozen
yogurt; for the rest, “it’s purely impulse,”
says Clements.
“We haven’t done a lot of outside
marketing,” he says. “That’s when we’ll
know if these machines are going to be
long term.”
Enmark’s frozen-yogurt customers
span all demographics, says Clements,
from women and children to blue-collar
workers. The offering is found in various
markets, from suburban to small town,
though the busiest location happens to
be very close to a high school.
High school kids are an important
demographic for FastLane, too, and the
chain takes advantage of that with its
Sprinkle on the Spirit promotion. Students
from two local schools are encouraged to
show their spirit by using the sprinkle mix
with their school’s colors. The school that
uses the most sprinkles over a period of
time wins a trophy displayed in the store.
The store also offers a 20% discount on
Thursdays for customers who wear the
school colors into the store.
FastLane is building awareness through
daily specials, including Fill-A-Cone for
$2 on Tuesdays and free pints with a $10
purchase on Saturdays. (It sells pints to
help offset waste.) FastLane and Swirls n
Sweets work together by offering Fro-Yo
and Fuel Friday. The fuel customer gets
a 20% discount at Swirls n Sweets on Fri-
day when they bring in their fuel receipt.
Swirls n Sweets is also part of the chain’s
loyalty program, in which customers
get KickBack points for purchases that
can be redeemed at either location.
On its busy Facebook page (where
it’s clocked in nearly 1,000 fans),
Swirls N Sweets is promoting a new
birthday party package: For $45, a
customer receives a large pizza, fountain
drinks, frozen yogurt, candy bags and bal-
loons for eight people, as well as service
from a “party hostess.”
“Actively promoting frozen yogurt
in c-stores plays a vital role in attract-
ing new customers, resulting in repeat
visits and increased check averages,” says
Patricia Bennett, senior director of global
marketing for Rockton, Ill.-based Taylor
Co., which manufactures frozen-yogurt
machines along with other foodservice
equipment.
“As customer demand for healthier
foodservice offerings and speed of service
increases, store operators are creating
new ways to differentiate themselves from
other foodservice establishments,” says
Bennett. “Increasingly, they’re turning to
us as a way to meet that demand while
also growing store traffic.”
The Right Stuff Before creating engaging promotions
and sending staffers to the pumps with
samples, retailers must analyze their
C S P October 2013228
Oh No: ‘Bro-Yo’?In the Venn diagram of frozen yogurt and breastaurants (yes, there is such a Venn
diagram), Cups is at the center. An odd mix of Pinkberry and Hooters, the chain
is aimed at male consumers, or “bro-yo,” as Darren Tristano of Technomic says.
Employees wear hot-pink tank tops, and the logo features two bountiful cups of
frozen yogurt.
“It’s more of a clublike experience with an edgy vibe. We have loud dance music
with lighting and murals that give us a look and feel that is very different from the
normal yogurt bar or ice-cream shop,” founder Rick Barbrick said in a press release.
30 Flavors: Swirls n Sweets’ toppings bar includes 30 items, such as fruit,
candy and nuts.
C S P October 2013230
space and make the proper
purchasing and operational
decisions.
▶ Customers and compet i t ion . Take
note of your competi-
tive landscape and the
store demographics.
Will frozen yogurt be a
differentiator, or is it so
different for your market
that consumers won’t be
interested?
▶ Space allocation. Understand your desired layout,
be it in a new store or an existing
location. New builds allow you to plan
space accordingly, while adding frozen
yogurt to an existing location may be an
opportunity to get rid of a low-perform-
ing offering.
Pay close attention to where in the
store you place the program. As close to
the checkout as possible is ideal because it
is more likely to be noticed by customers
and it allows employees to keep a close
eye on it. But even if you position it deep
in the store near the fountain, proper sig-
nage—from the pump to the doors to the
checkout—is critical.
▶ Equipment and product. A good
equipment manufacturer should help
you understand the capacity and number
of units needed based on projected vol-
umes. Choosing a piece of equipment will
also depend on the type of product you
use, be it ready-to-dispense frozen yogurt,
or powders that require a little extra labor.
“Knowledge is everything when it
comes to these machines. Not that they’re
temperamental, but things happen,” says
Wacker of FastLane. She recalls one day
in which something on a machine wasn’t
properly closed, which locked up all the
machines and ruined the day’s product.
While the number of units you need
and the capacity per machine will depend
on your own store traffic, success will be
determined by how it holds up to traffic
volumes. You want each cup to be consis-
tent in temperature and texture.
“Choose a model that can consistently
produce quality products, draw after
draw—even during your busiest day-
parts,” says Bennett.
▶ Labor. As with any fresh-food offer-
ing, TLC from employees is critical for
both promotion and maintenance of
the program. Team members need to be
properly trained on cleaning the equip-
ment as well as keeping the area clean
and appetizing.
“It’s about training and creating
awareness,” says Wacker. The stand-alone
Swirls n Sweets location naturally has
dedicated staff, and the chain is ensur-
ing that all c-store employees are cross-
trained for the in-store location.
▶ Price point. Finding the
right price point may be a sticky
proposition for convenience
retailers, says Tristano of
Technomic. The frozen-
yogurt consumer is used
to paying upwards of $6
for a sweet treat—but with
that higher price point
comes an elevated experi-
ence. Value-pricing frozen
yogurt may hurt the quality
perception, but with a higher
price point must actually come
a high-quality experience, which
includes cleanliness, product quality
and unique, modern branding.
The biggest surprises for both Wacker
and Clements have been related to cus-
tomer perception and education. “Many
of our customers have not been in
yogurt shops and are not familiar with
pay-by-the-weight,” says Clements. “So
there has been a little bit of a learning
curve with that.” They alleviated the
problem by sending employees over to
explain the process while the customer
prepares his or her yogurt. “Our price
is clearly posted, but there have been
instances where customers thought the
entire cup was 39 cents.”
At FastLane, “We opened with just
one size cup (20 ounces) and we had
to bring a smaller cup by customer
request—even though it is self-serve and
the customer determines the amount ...
they want,” says Wacker. “I think it was
just a visual perception, but we listened
to our customers and took action.”
Another benefit c-stores have over
traditional frozen-yogurt concepts is the
potential to grow check averages. Once
the offering evolves from impulse to des-
tination, retailers can use it to leverage
other foodservice items and more. n
Dispensing Riches: FastLane has opened a stand-alone Swirls n Sweets location, as well as an in-store program.