Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory announced the opening of its first Aspen Leaf Yogurt self-serve frozen yogurt store in San Antonio, Texas.
Aspen Leaf offers 14 premium frozen yogurt varieties, including sugar-free and dairy-free selections, and an extensive selection of toppings.
Three additional company-operated stores are scheduled to open during March and April 2011, in Boise; Farmington, New Mexico; and Greeley, Colorado.
"Our Aspen Leaf concept is based on giving people everything they need to create their own personalized, amazing frozen yogurt experience," says Edward L. Dudley, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
"Ours are the only frozen yogurt stores to feature toppings made from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory chocolates which, along with other topping selections, allow customers to get highly creative in the development of their own recipes," Dudley says.
The company also announced that its first franchised Aspen Leaf store is expected to open next month in Boulder, Colorado, in accordance with a territorial franchise agreement that calls for the opening of five stores in Boulder County, Colorado over a 24-month period.
"We believe our Aspen Leaf concept represents a natural complement to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory brand that we hope will provide the company and its franchisees with an exciting new growth opportunity in the 'better for you' segment of the estimated multi-billion-dollar frozen yogurt market," says Bryan Merryman, the company's COO.
"Our product development staff worked tirelessly to find a yogurt product that tastes great, while delivering a higher level of probiotic benefits to customers than is available at many competing stores," Merryman says.
"We believe that our more than 29 years of franchising experience and support, high-quality reputation in confection manufacturing, proprietary training and store operating methods, extensive relationships with developers and real estate companies, and our store base of over 358 Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores, will allow us to establish Aspen Leaf Yogurt as a premium retail brand within a relatively short period of time,"Merryman says.
