Frozen Yogurt’s Uprise

[media-credit name=”Wikipedia” align=”alignnone” width=”225″][/media-credit]In the recent years, the rise of the new delicacy called ‘frozen yogurt’ had began, spreading around rampantly all across the United States.

But when does this spread go too far?

In a smaller city like Orem, you notice a few things. Like the fact that there are, at the least, three frozen yogurt places just on University Avenue. Red Mango, Yogurtland, Farr’s, the list goes on and on just in the city of Orem.

But has it become an oversaturation of a market that’s been choked to its edges?

But the problem isn’t just in our city of Orem. Kim Velsey, a writer for The New York Observer noticed a similar pattern in her resident city of New York City. The amount of frozen yogurt establishments and even carts are rampant in the Big Apple, going up as far as nineteen in numbers just in a small area.

The question is how do they stay in business? These businesses, these establishments, are all fighting for the same market—the frozen yogurt business. What is it that makes these places unique that keep them in business?

Denise De Angelis, an employee at Coney’s Frozen Custard gave some input. “Something that makes Coney’s unique is their flavor rotation. Every two days we switch a flavor, keeping it different.”

Small things like that, it seems, are what make these places unique. The use of ‘custard’ in the establishments name in itself could be a marketing ploy. But when asked how often Coney’s was empty, Denise responded saying that it was usually on Tuesdays that it was empty, lasting up to two hours.

Amanda Martinha, an employee at Red Mango, was also asked the same question. “It’s usually empty on weekdays during the day.” She replied.

The question of originality was also asked. What is it that makes Red Mango stand out, that makes it different? “Red Mango isn’t self-serve like other places, and it also has smoothies.” Amanda had said.

But to what point will these places last? They’re all similar in their market, subtle changes ranging from business to business. Frozen yogurt is a dessert, so planning to go to such a place isn’t common. It’s an on-the-spot thing, something you do after you go somewhere. Is that process the reason these companies are able to stay afloat in such an oversaturated market?

What happens when you also consider other markets, the ice cream market and Baskin Robbins, the smoothie market and Jamba Juice and Orange Julius. These places, as different as they are from frozen yogurt, are still considered. When do people decide, ‘do I want a smoothie, a shake, frozen yogurt, custard, or plain old ice cream today?’

In a health conscious America, the word frozen yogurt is too appealing to pass up, a yummy, frozen treat that sounds healthy is something that can never be passed up.

When does that go too far, though?