Hatfield, Pennsylvania, just got a bit cooler. That’s because of the YoFresh Yogurt Café that recently opened in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center at 190 Forty Foot Road.
Owners Karen and Don Wroten of Souderton, Pennsylvania, say their comfy and funky shop is becoming a hot destination for healthy snacks or meals at any time of day.
“Hatfield is a great place to live and work. We wanted to get in on the ground floor of a relatively new quick serve food franchising opportunity in a community we know well,” says Don Wroten. “Also, yogurt has so many health benefits that many health-conscious people make it part of their daily regimen.”
Both of the Wrotens have sales and marketing experience: Don was a director of sales for Oracle, and Karen worked in sales for Merck.
Karen Wroten says yogurt is healthy for all ages since it’s rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamins B6, and B12. Yogurt’s active cultures may discourage some infections and may help one to feel fuller, she says.
Guests planning a party can take advantage of YoFresh’s yogurt pies and yogurt by the quart. Another attraction is Chloe’s soft-serve organic fruit yogurt that is dairy-free, fat-free, and gluten-free.
YoFresh has more than 100 flavors of frozen yogurts including low-fat, fat-free, and sugar-free options. The menu offers organic smoothies, waffles and frozen yogurt, coffee, and pastries.
Customers can dispense their own frozen yogurt and scoop as much as they like, then choose from a variety of toppings including fruits, nuts, sprinkles, cereals, candies, and sauces. Using YoFresh’s “Weigh & Pay” formula, customers pay by the ounce.
The YoFresh staff can instruct customers on the art of designing their own yogurt creation. “The flavor offerings change and may be different on each visit, ranging from red velvet to cheesecake, salted caramel, sweet coconut, mango sorbet, etc., so you have to keep coming back,” Don Wroten says. “We’ll gladly fill tasting cups so customers can sample a few flavors before ordering.”
“Once we decided we wanted to own our own business, we looked at many franchise opportunities,” he says. “We liked the YoFresh product and concept and knew we could serve the community and make a living.”
YoFresh founder and CEO, Chris Gregoris, says the chain has some three dozen shops with several more in various stages of planning. There are nine locations in Pennsylvania. More are planned for specific locations in Philadelphia and York, and franchisees have shown an interest in other sites in Montgomery and Bucks Counties.
“We are delighted to welcome the Wrotens to the YoFresh family, which is on an exciting growth curve,” Gregoris says. “We have stores in 11 states and new territories are available. We welcome inquiries from interested entrepreneurs. We’re excited to be a leader in the resurgent frozen yogurt industry. Our goal is to have a total of 52 franchised stores by the end of 2014.”