This month, TCBY is launching Yovana, a new quick-service concept designed to meet consumers’ increasing demand for fresh, healthy and convenient foods throughout the day. Yovana’s first prototype store opened July 16th in Phoenix.

Yovana’s offerings center on premium yogurt, prepared fresh in-store every day. Guests can choose from a range of made-to-order meals and snacks, including fresh yogurt parfaits, drinkable yogurt smoothies, and frozen yogurt treats featuring seasonally fresh fruit and organic wholegrain granolas.

“We’re leading a ‘culture’ change,” says David Hall, vice president of marketing for TCBY. “Yovana feeds consumers’ growing hunger for yogurt and provides them with smart choices for eating healthy when they are away from home.”

Information Resources, Inc. ranks yogurt as the 15th largest grocery category in the United States and also one of the fastest growing consumer product categories. Additionally, AC Nielsen’s 2004 study on Global Growth in Food & Beverages reported drinkable yogurt was the second fastest growing category globally, increasing by 19 percent worldwide.

“We believe this trend will continue, given the lifestyle and nutrition needs of today’s consumers, and we expect consumers will demand increasingly high-quality yogurt,” says Hall. “Yovana is the first and only shop of its kind to prepare yogurt fresh, in the store, every day, so consumers can enjoy the highest quality, premium yogurt available.”