The first collaboration between International Frozen Yogurt Association (IFYA) and CarryOutSupplies.com concluded on March 31. The Grand Prize winner of 10,000 custom yogurt cups is Forever Yogurt, based in Chicago, and the winning entry is their Color Prism Cup.
Ahmad Yilmaz, co-founder and creative director at Forever Yogurt, says, “We were pretty ecstatic once we heard about the International Frozen Yogurt Association's cup design contest because we thought it was such a unique idea for a contest. The frozen yogurt industry is competitive in nature and we thought that by participating we could potentially win and earn some bragging rights. Once our fans learned about the competition on Facebook, they were very generous in helping us collect votes and spread the word. We are thankful for our fans for their support and, especially, the IFYA for holding such a cool competition.”
The contest began on February 1 and ended on March 31 on IFYA’s official Facebook page. It received 19 entries from frozen yogurt stores across the country and tallied thousands of views, votes, and shares. Entries moved on to the judge round of the contest if they received 10 or more votes from the public. In the judge round entries were scored based on creativity, uniqueness, and overall attractiveness. Forever Yogurt’s Color Prism Cup scored highest point total. Sweetly Twisted’s (of Greenville, South Carolina) cup entry placed a close second by a few points.
Custom printed paper cups have become ubiquitous to frozen yogurt stores across the country. The contest organizers aimed to showcase the best of cup designs and inspire others to let their creativity flow and create memorable designs as well.
“We are thrilled to be able to recognize frozen yogurt shops for their cup design excellence. The contest also was able to generate appreciation and excitement of froyo cup designs among the consumers,” says Susan Linton, president of the International Frozen Yogurt Association. “Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and voted for the cup designs.”
“We are very excited about the results of this contest,” says Andy Lin, web and marketing manager at CarryOutSupplies.com. “It was a tough decision to select one Grand Prize winner out of many great entries, but in the end the scores from the judges agreed on the winner.”
Lin also commented the anticipated effect of hosting the contest on Facebook. “Many participants were able to drum up support from their communities, and I believe the contest served as a platform for them to strengthen those ties in the community. A successful froyo business is one that’s based on the community, and this event helped frozen yogurt business build community around their stores.”
This is especially true for Dipali Britton, the proprietor of Sweetly Twisted Froyo Truck, who posted on Facebook “When I entered this contest for our custom cup design last Monday, I wasn't sure if I could catch up to a guy who has been running for 7 weeks and leading by 400 votes!!! I may not speak to each of you everyday or month or even a year, but THANK YOU for showing me your support and love via Facebook and helping me to get almost 900 votes!!! (15 away hint hint) Doesn't seem like a big deal, but this contest has helped our Sweetly-Twisted Froyo Truck Facebook page have more likes and we have signed up 8 events in the last week!!! So THANK YOU FOR AWARENESS AND TO DOMINATE THIS CONTEST! And thank YOU Chris Parker for an amazing design!!!! — feelingloved.”
Britton’s entry received the highest number of votes from the community and placed second in score total in the judge round.