Cult frozen yoghurt favourite Yo-Chi to open three new stores in Perth by end of the year

Cult favourite frozen yoghurt chain Yo-Chi says it is on track to more than double its national footprint in the next 12 months as it plans to open three new stores in Perth later this year. With five stores in WA already — including Victoria Park, Leederville and Karrinyup — Yo-Chi chief operating officer Brooke Rodger has revealed it will open new shopfronts in Currambine and Perth CBD’s Forrest Chase in November, followed by Whitford City in December. The self serve-style business has enjoyed a meteoric rise since it was established in 2013 by Australian billionaire entrepreneur Manny Stul, along with Jon Stul and Jason Solomon. It has grown from just four stores in Melbourne to 38 locations and about 920 staff across the country. Yo-Chi in 2018 was sold to celebrity chef George Calombaris’ restaurant empire Made Entertainment — which later collapsed — before Boost Juice founder Janine Allis’ sons, Oliver and Riley, took it over in 2020. “There’s some really strong retail credentials between them . . . (the Allis family) saw the opportunity to really grow the brand and increase the footprint by opening new venues in some A-grade sites,” Ms Rodger told The West Australian. “They went out with a very particular leasing strategy in mind about only taking on locations which already had high foot traffic with the right demographics. “I think that’s played a really big part in helping Yo-Chi to become very well-known very quickly.” But Ms Rodgers reckons there isn’t a single answer as to why Yo-Chi is successful. “We’re a brand that really places huge importance on the spaces that we create as being a place for social connection,” she said. Ms Rodgers said the business sees about eight to 10 million customers walking through its doors every year. It’s had to look at different “innovations”, like double-sided topping bars, to address the “mind-blowing” queues around its outlets. “Our WA queues are pretty well renowned for being the biggest in the country, especially at Karrinyup,” Ms Rodgers said. And as cafes and restaurants around Australia struggle to stay afloat amid higher cost-of-living pressures, Ms Rodgers said Yo-Chi was seeing the contrary as customers pull back on spending. “I think people are feeling the pinch . . . the beauty of the Yo-Chi experience is that people do have control over how much they put in their cup,” she said. Yo-Chi charges $4 per 100g.