Top 10 Frozen Yogurt Franchise Opportunities in USA for 2023

Update: 12.02.2023

Frozen yogurt franchises as well as other health-driven businesses are the mainstream of 2023. In the USA the market is occupied by famous well-promoted brands that have been holding their leading positions for years. Having compared a current list of the best with the one of the previous year, we see just an insignificant rotation in the ranking.
Being keen on health, Americans prefer frozen yoghurt or smoothie which contain healthy ingredients and fewer calories to traditional sweets. Therefore, frozen dessert restaurants, bars and stores are very popular throughout the USA. Many of them are operating under famous franchise brands like Tutti Frutti, Red Mango, Pinkberry, etc. The best Frozen Yogurt franchises offer their partners not only the idea and a well-known name, but also an assistance of marketing and development support team as well as useful trainings and detailed instructions on business processes. Choose one of the top Frozen Yogurt franchise opportunities below.

Here is TOP 10 Frozen Yogurt Franchise Opportunities in USA:

Tutti Frutti

Founded in: 2008
Franchising since: 2009
Franchise units: 700+ Worldwide
Initial investment: from $231,000
Franchise Fee: $58,400 - $96,500
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 5%

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt is an American retail chain of self-serve frozen yogurt and is the largest specialty frozen yogurt retailer in the world. Company has over 100 outlets in California and other states in the US, Indonesia, Vietnam, Tahiti, and Mexico, and around the world.

16 Handles

Founded in: 2008
Franchising since: 2010
Franchise units: 31+
Initial investment: from $264,750
Franchise Fee: $30,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6%

16 Handles, New York City’s #1 frozen yogurt and dessert brand, launched in 2008 as New York City’s first self-serve pay-by-weight frozen yogurt concept, has since grown to over 40 locations across six states, and is now expanding internationally. Customers will have more than 80 flavors of Fro-Yo to choose from plus an endless toppings bar filled with fan favorites and a few surprises along the way.

Orange Leaf

Founded in: 2008
Franchising since: 2010
Franchise units: 200+ Worldwide
Initial investment: $189,900 - $417,300
Franchise Fee: $25,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 5%

Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt (or simply Orange Leaf) is an Oklahoma City-based chain of self-serve frozen yogurt franchises founded in 2008 which offers sugar-free, gluten-free, non-dairy, and vegan alternatives which include flavors, cups, and cones, to smoothies, shakes, and cakes. Company has spread to over 300 locations in the United States and has also expanded internationally.

Red Mango

Founded in: 2006
Franchising since: 2007
Franchise units: 315
Initial investment: $194,000 - $466,000
Franchise Fee: $30,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6%
Ad Royalty Fee: 3%

Red Mango is a frozen yogurt and smoothie brand known for its all-natural frozen yogurt, fresh fruit smoothies, yogurt parfaits, and fresh juices. Daniel Kim opened the first Red Mango store in 2007, near the University of California in Los Angeles and quickly began franchising the frozen yogurt shop. Red Mango® Yogurt Café Smoothie & Juice Bar is an established leader among frozen yogurt and healthy eating franchises.

Pinkberry

Founded in: 2005
Franchising since: 2006
Franchise units: 80
Initial investment: $295,000 - $508,000
Franchise Fee: $35,000
Royalty Fees: 6%

Pinkberry is an American chain of frozen dessert restaurants which started in Los Angeles in 2005 and has enjoyed unprecedented growth nationwide and worldwide. There are currently over 260 stores in 20 countries. The chain serves both frozen and fresh Greek yogurts with a variety of toppings, along with yogurt smoothies and shakes. All Franchisees have dedicated operations, marketing, and development support team members who they can reach out to for operating and training matters.

See more food franchises in USA in the catalog →

Mrs. Fields & TCBY

Founded in: 1977
Franchising since: 1982
Franchise units: 836
Initial investment: $200,000 - $492,000
Franchise Fee: $25,000 - $35,000
Royalty Fees: 6%
Ad Royalty Fee: 2%

Famous Brands International (“Famous Brands, or the “Company”), headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, owns and manages two category defining, iconic brands: Mrs. Fields and TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt). Together, TCBY and Mrs. Fields have more than 900 locations in 33 countries. The real value of becoming a franchisee is that you’re walking into a proven system that has already strategized, tested, and implemented branding, operations, training, management, marketing, real estate, and construction processes and resources.

Menchie's

Founded in: 2007
Franchising since: 2008
Franchise units: 495
Initial investment: $218,000 - $385,000
Franchise Fee: $40,000
Royalty Fees: 6%

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt is an American frozen yogurt chain company founded by Danna and Adam Caldwell in 2007, based in the San Fernando Valley, California area. Menchie's shops offer self-serve frozen yogurt in 100 rotating flavors, including low carb, no sugar added, dairy free, nonfat, gluten free, and kosher options. A typical Menchie's franchisee invests approximately $300K - $350K, including working capital, to open their Menchie's yogurt franchise.

Yogurtland

Founded in: 2006
Franchising since: 2007
Franchise units: 304
Initial investment: $278,000 - $588,000
Franchise Fee: $35,000
Royalty Fees: 6%

Yogurtland is an American international franchise chain of frozen yogurt restaurants which provides self-serve soft-serve frozen yogurt. Yogurtland features non-fat and low-fat yogurt flavors, ice cream, and non-dairy and no sugar added choices while using milk that does not contain antibiotics or added hormones. Fruit flavors are fortified with Vitamin C for an extra boost. At this time, Company prefers franchisees who are willing to open several locations.

sweetFrog

Founded in: 2009
Franchising since: 2012
Franchise units: 287
Initial investment: $96,000 - $478,000
Franchise Fee: $10,000 - $30,000
Royalty Fees: 5%

sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt began when an entrepreneur Derek Cha and his family moved to Richmond, VA, in 2009. The first sweetFrog store opened later that year in the Short Pump subdivision of Richmond and for now the chain of frozen yogurt retail restaurants has over 300 locations in the United States and several more internationally. Sweet Frog locations offer a variety of frozen yogurt flavors and toppings, waffle cones and bowls, Belgian waffles, banana splits and parfaits.

Yogen Fruz

Founded in: 1986
Franchising since: 1987
Franchise units: 1,226
Initial investment: $123,000 - $460,000
Franchise Fee: $25,000
Royalty Fees: 6%

Yogen Fruz, founded by brothers Michael and Aaron Serruya in 1986 in Toronto, Ontario, is a chain of frozen yogurt and smoothie stores that also serves healthy alternative food products. In 1989, they expanded into the United States, and for now operates worldwide. The chain is run through company-owned, franchised, and non-traditional partnerships. Company developed a unique blending system which combines its delicious and nutritious frozen yogurt and fresh fruit which allows anyone to customize their own flavor combination.

Conclusion

To summarize, we can say any of the listed above frozen yogurt franchises is worth buying. But there is a lot to consider while choosing the best one for you. Pay attention to the reputation of the brand, what training and support are offered, check if the other franchisees are successful. But the main thing you need to do is to align your budget with investment requirements of the brand. In order to ease the challenge, we have made the comparison flowchart of the best frozen yogurt franchises in the USA for you. It shows the minimum estimated initial investment and initial franchise fee of each brand. By using it, you can figure out the difference in financial requirements for each franchise, and decide which one fits you the most.

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