Yogen Früz, a frozen yogurt chain with over 1,100 stores in over 20 countries, announced today that it has signed a master franchise agreement with Miami-based Frozenguy LLC that will bring 21 stores to south Florida over the next eight years. The agreement is part of an aggressive program to secure a major scoop of the U.S. frozen yogurt market for Yogen Früz’s signature create-your-own frozen yogurt/fruit blends.

The company has granted exclusive development rights to Frozenguy LLC for all of south Florida below the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, including Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.

The company also has master franchise agreements in the Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. The first two stores opened this past month in suburban Chicago’s Woodfield Shopping Center and San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center. Up to 1,000 U.S. outlets are planned by 2018, from small kiosks to mid-sized inline stores and larger sit-down outlets in strip plazas, shopping malls, and regional shopping centers.

“South Florida has ideal demographics for frozen yogurt stores, not to mention the kind of weather where frozen treats are appealing year-round. This area was therefore a major target for our development efforts,” says Aaron Serruya, president of Yogen Früz.