TCBY launched Greek frozen yogurt in stores Thursday, April 5. Having announced its plans to add Greek frozen yogurt to its lineup in January, TCBY is the heralder of nationwide Greek frozen yogurt.
“It’s certainly always advantageous to be the first on anything,” says Greg Allison, TCBY’s senior director of global branding, innovation, and licensing. “It gives us an opportunity to claim that leadership title. We know that others will follow, and that’s to be expected.”
TCBY stores now offer Greek yogurt in one flavor, honey vanilla. Allison says the competition in the frozen yogurt category has thus far focused on flavor ranges, but being the first to announce a new type of yogurt gives TCBY an edge by allowing the brand to message the healthy benefits of Greek on a national level and win over a wider audience.
Consumer response, meanwhile, has “been nothing short of phenomenal,” according to Allison. In the few days since the Greek debut, TCBY’s Facebook page has garnered nearly 5,000 posts, and guests are already demanding more flavors.
“We’ve not experienced anything like this in years, in terms of response and demand,” Allison says. “We launched this last Thursday and many of our stores that received their initial shipments … they went through that product so fast that they had to place another order from their distribution center to get it in.”
TCBY executives had been planning a three-month sell-through before they would have to consider producing more yogurt.
“We’re already thinking–I was working on it today–that we’re going to have to increase our production run to meet demands,” Allison says. “It’s a good problem to have to make sure your stores have enough of a supply to keep their customers happy.”
As for the requests for more flavors, TCBY has two more Greek varieties in production. Blueberry and pomegranate will make their grand entrance into the TCBY flavor rotation in July.
“We’re getting a lot of requests for a fruit addition to Greek yogurt,” Allison explains. “TCBY, we’re celebrating our 30th year and it’s nice to be able to have a product like this after 30 years that hits so hard and has grown so fast.”
By Sonya Chudgar
