Frozen assets
In the USA, frozen yoghurt has had enormous success and it is estimated that sales there are worth more than $3b. In the UK, the market has been much slower to develop, but its future looks bright.
According to Taste Trends, which supplies the US and UK market-leading Colombo brand, sales of frozen yoghurt in the UK were worth £12m last year and the company predicts that sales will more than triple to £40m by 1996.
Three styles of frozen yoghurt are available - soft serve, hard pack or scooping yogurt, plus the newer "hybrid" type, which is a cross between the two.
There are relatively few suppliers of soft serve ingredients. The Colombo brand dominates the scene, but also available is Stonyfield, another US brand, supplied by Beechdean Dairies, and Merricks, made in the UK by the American Soft Frozen Yoghurt Co.
The ingredient cost of a portion of soft serve frozen yoghurt ranges from about 15p to 20p, depending on the supplier and the amount of air (over-run) put into the product by the machine. By contrast, soft serve ice-cream costs from about 8p per portion.
Frozen yoghurt in scooping form is mainly aimed at the retail market, although some is used in catering. Many packs are designed primarily for home users, offering just four or five portions. Typically, a scoop of frozen yoghurt costs about 20p to 30p, much the same as a premium ice-cream.
It is available from all the soft serve ingredient suppliers, with the exception of the American Soft Frozen Yoghurt Co, which is in the process of developing a product.
Other suppliers include the Heidi's brand, imported from the USA and available from distributor V Benoist, Häagen-Dazs and Glacé International. It is also possible to find frozen yoghurt tubs on the lists of some small, local ice-cream producers.
The hybrid version of frozen yoghurt is supplied by Glacé International in frozen 10-litre concertina-style containers under the Mon Glacé brand. These fit into US-made Super Nova frozen dispensers which extrude the product.
This style is made with a smaller overrun than soft serve, but bigger than scoop, giving it a light, but rich, texture. And because it is not beaten in the machine, it can include chunks of chocolate, strawberry or other ingredients.
Both single- and twin-outlet dispensers are available. And it is fairly easy to swap containers (with the part-used one being put in a freezer), allowing flavours to be changed frequently. Cost per portion is 23p to 26p.
A big selling point of frozen yoghurt - whatever its type - is its healthy eating appeal. Most products have no- or low-fat content. Colombo, for example, has only 88 calories per 100ml serving, which is about a third fewer than premium ice-cream.
This means frozen yoghurt is particularly well received in sports clubs. At the David Lloyd Racquet Club in Bushey, Hertfordshire, frozen Colombo yoghurt has proved more popular than ice-cream in the 64-cover restaurant and lounge snack area.
Health conscious
The club has a twin-outlet soft serve machine and normally offers vanilla yoghurt plus one other flavour, and a mix of both. Portions are 4oz and served in a polystyrene cup costing £1.25.
Liz Cowe, restaurant and bar manager, says: "Because we're a health club, most people are very health conscious and want lower calorie or non-fat food. Also, parents don't mind their children having frozen yoghurt."
At the Lunchbox in Windsor, owner Lynda Wood finds frozen yoghurt sells best to the health-conscious. She says: "The children aren't so keen on it, but some adults, especially women, ask for something without fat."
The outlet offers a wide range of premium scooping ice-cream and soft serve ice-cream. In the past, Colombo yoghurt was sold through a soft serve machine but the Lunchbox recently switched to the Stonyfield brand and now only offers Colombo in 1 US pint tubs.
Soft serve frozen yoghurt is sold at 85p per portion. Flavours are changed regularly and have included peach, cheesecake and strawberry.
However, soft serve yoghurt is on probation in the Lunchbox. "If it doesn't go better this year, I will put ice-cream in the machine instead," says Wood.
At the Footlights restaurant in Bath - one of a chain of four - Heidi's strawberry yoghurt is on the menu at £2.25 per two-scoop portion, the same price as the choice of Steve's ice-creams. "It tastes rich and it's not the sort of thing you would think of as a dietary product, although it is lower in calories," says owner, Linda McHale.
Sutcliffe Catering Group has frozen yoghurt at a number of its sites, offering Colombo and Mon Glacé brands.
John Page, assistant group purchasing director, says: "Any site that is capable of selling ice-cream is capable of selling frozen yogurt. And if the site wants a low-fat product, yoghurt fits the bill very nicely."
Soft serve machines
If you already have a soft serve machine for ice-cream, you cannot simply put in a frozen yoghurt mix instead.
David Tatman, marketing director of machine supplier Taylor Freezer, says yoghurt requires a slower beater speed and a warmer temperature than ice-cream. Brass bearings in the machine also have to be replaced with acrylic ones. These changes can normally be carried out by your machine supplier.
Most ingredient suppliers recommend frozen yoghurt is made with a smaller overrun than ice-cream to preserve its premium quality. Typically, yoghurt should be frozen with about 50% over-run to produce a good mouth feel.
