12 FreshBerry Units Open in Middle East

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Beautiful Brands International (BBI) announced the opening of 12 new FreshBerry stores in the Middle East. It’s the biggest overseas expansion for the Tulsa, Oklahoma–based company and coincides with its 40th FreshBerry store opening in the U.S., located in Wellington, Florida.

“We’re thrilled we’re able to celebrate two tremendous milestones—strong growth in the Middle East Fro-Yo Market and our 40th FreshBerry store opening,” says David Rutkauskas, Beautiful Brands founder, president, and CEO. “It’s a real testimony to our global appeal and inspired innovation as a company. I believe our wave of growth is ignited by our unique concept and strategy for promoting our brand.”

The Middle East openings are a result of an agreement between BBI and Saudi-based United Food Company to market and franchise the frozen yogurt concept throughout the region. Both companies anticipate continued success for the brand and the opening of even more units in countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Egypt. In the U.S., FreshBerry expects continued growth with openings in the following cities: Miami; Atoka, Oklahoma; and Greater Denver. The FreshBerry franchise system is on track to double in growth by the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.

“The BBI office has been extremely busy with international calls, Skype conferences, traveling, and lots of high fives as we've reached this goal,” Rutkauskas says. “We’re getting calls from potential franchisees worldwide who are beginning to hear about the terrific potential of FreshBerry, the cobranding with Smallcakes, and wanting to invest in our concept. I believe more and more, people are being drawn to the simplicity of our business model our new products, and the uniqueness of our creamy fro-yo taste. It’s what’s spurring our growth globally and taking us to a whole new level of success.”

The FreshBerry concept was created by Rutkauskas and his wife, Camille. The first FreshBerry café opened in January 2008 in Tulsa. Today, there are more than 40 FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Cafés open and more than 1,000 units in development in Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, California, Arizona, New York, Nevada, Florida, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, and most recently Dubai, Australia, and South Korea.

“FreshBerry is the sort of taste people worldwide love from the first bite,” Rutkauskas says. “It’s a perfect combination of healthy and delicious and a winning recipe for any franchisee looking for a tremendous investment.”