Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt

Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt
Industry Frozen Yogurt
Founded 2007
Headquarters Salt Lake City
Website http://spoonme.com/

Spoon Me Franchising, LLC is a frozen yogurt and smoothie company based in Salt Lake City.[1] The company attempts to distinguish itself from other frozen yogurt chains by focusing on ambiance and personal connections with customers.[2] The company maintains an eco-friendly stance, with a philosophy of, "giving back to the community.[3]" Spoon Me's mission statement is, "the body we live in, the people we live with, the planet we live on.[4]" Spoon Me uses edible spoons to reduce the amount of waste their stores produce.[5]

History

Spoon Me was founded in 2007, with the first store opening in Salt Lake City that same year.[5] Founder Ryan Combe was inspired by the emergence of existing yogurt franchises across the US, saying he, “loved some of the products, but just having a good product is not enough.[3]" He and co-founder David James came up with the idea of marketing their stores as an engaging social experience.[3]

The company began opening franchises in 2008, with the first franchise location in Sandy, purchased by Combe's aunt.[6] Spoon Me began its expansion to Canada in 2009, with the opening of a franchised store in Calgary.[7] Combe has declared plans to open more franchised stores in Canada, focusing on Vancouver and Alberta.[8] The company opened their first New Jersey store, also franchised, in 2010. This was the first Spoon Me store to serve smoothies and fruit juice in addition to yogurt.[9]

In 2009, Spoon Me was number 20 on the Utah Entrepreneurial Forum's (UVEF) list of "Top 25 Under Five" companies.[10]

Products

Spoon Me offers frozen yogurt, smoothies, juices, waffles and oatmeal. The company serves over 30 flavours of frozen yogurt, with at least 10 flavours available at each location. All flavours are fat-free, gluten free, and refined sugar-free. The yogurt contains very few calories, and has no artificial flavours, sweeteners, or colours.[11] Customers can choose their own yogurt flavour at self-serve stations, and mix in their own toppings. There are 40 toppings to choose from, ranging from candies and cookies to fruit. Spoon Me frozen yogurt is priced by weight, at 30 to 40 cents per ounce.[11]

Spoon Me offers about 15 kinds of smoothie.[12] The smoothies have a frozen yogurt base, using either natural, green tea, or açaí yogurt.[12] Customers can also add soy protein, multivitamins, energy, vitamin C, smart blend and many other nutritional supplements to their smoothie.[12]

All of Spoon Me's bowls and spoons are biodegradable and edible, made from corn starch.[13]

Nutritional Facts

Concept and Marketing

Spoon Me's name was created by Eat My Words, a naming firm based in San Francisco. Spoon Me has gone on to use its name as a centerpiece in its marketing through t-shirts, bumper stickers and other merchandise.

Spoon Me promotes health, and helping the community and the world. The company does not believe in keeping tips. Instead, any tips received go towards a charity in the community.

Spoon Me looks to appeal to customers 16–30 years old. Spoon Me stores are always playing loud music, and are designed to be a social place for employees and customers alike.[3] Employees are encouraged to be themselves, and speak naturally to customers to provide them with an enjoyable experience.

Spoon Me uses technology relevant to their target audience for marketing strategies. Their main tactic is the Spoon Me iPhone app, which sends customers special offers when they enter any Spoon Me location.[15] Spoon Me also sells branded apparel, featuring the company's logo and related tongue-in-cheek phrases.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Top New Franchises, "Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt", Top New Franchises, 2009-05-05.
  2. ↑ Axleton, K., "Frozen Yogurt Franchises: Fad or Trend?", 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Top New Franchises, "Ryan Combe, Spoon Me", Top New Franchises, 2009-27-05.
  4. ↑ "Spoon Me Announces the Opening of its Newest Franchise in Cleveland, Ohio", Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt Franchise, 2010-06-01.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stryker, A., "'Spoon Me' frozen yogurt shop looks to cuddle environment", Daily Herald, 2008-23-08.
  6. ↑ Mitchell, L., "Spoon Me a healthy, green yogurt shop", The Salt Lake Tribune, 2008-17-09.
  7. ↑ Spoon Me, "Newest Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt Franchise Opens in Calgary", Small Business Trends, 2009-11-10.
  8. ↑ McGregor, C., "U.S. yogurt business expanding in Western Canada", Restaurant News. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  9. ↑ Snaps, B., "New Jersey's Spoon Me Breaks New Ground with a Unique Service Concept, PRWeb, 2010-27-09.
  10. ↑ "Spoon Me Named One of Utah's Emerging Companies by Utah Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF)", Business Wire, 2009-07-10.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Frozen Yogurt", Spoon Me. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Smoothies", Spoon Me. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  13. ↑ Walker, "Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt Expands to Columbus", Columbus Underground, 2011-05-15.
  14. ↑ "Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt - Nutritional Information", MyFitnessPal. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  15. ↑ "Our Passion", Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt Franchise. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  16. ↑ "Our Products", Spoon Me Frozen Yogurt Franchise. Retrieved 2011-08-08.

External links