Red Mango FC, LLC is an American frozen yogurt and

smoothie A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt or ice cream. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dairy milk, cru ...

brand known for its all-natural frozen yogurt, fresh fruit smoothies, yogurt parfaits, and fresh juices. There are now more than 50 locations in over 15 states in the United States and Puerto Rico, and one each in El Salvador and Qatar. In 2011, Red Mango was named the No. 1 Zagat Rated chain in America for smoothies and frozen yogurt.

Background

Daniel J. Kim, the company's founder, graduated from

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

Haas School of Business The Walter A. Haas School of Business (branded as Berkeley Haas) is the business school of the University of California, Berkeley, a Public university, public research university in Berkeley, California. It was the first business school at a pub ...

in 1998, and first worked as an investment banker with

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) was a U.S. investment bank founded by William H. Donaldson, Richard Jenrette, and Dan Lufkin in 1959. Its businesses included securities underwriting; sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; financi ...

. According to the company website, Red Mango gets its name because "the mango, distinctly delicious and high in nutrition, becomes red at its optimal stage of ripeness."

Expansion

The first store was opened in 2007 in Los Angeles near UCLA. After opening their first store in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Red Mango opened stores in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, Washington, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. One year after the first store opened in Los Angeles, Red Mango opened 30 new stores. In 2008, Taco Bell executive John Antioco stepped down and became an advisor for Red Mango, this helped the brand grow to 20 stores by April 2008. By the end of 2009, Red Mango had 60 stores in operation. In the summer of 2010, Red Mango added 22 varieties of smoothies to their menu. By the end of 2010, Red Mango awarded agreements for 147 locations and opened 62 new stores, bringing the total number of locations to 100. They were named #4 on ''Restaurant Business Magazine''s "Future 50" list of the fastest-growing chains in 2010. In May 2012, the Dallas-based company entered into an agreement with Mexican theater chain Cinemex to introduce Red Mango products to Mexico. They open many of their stores on or near college campuses. In 2010, about 70% of Red Mango's buyers were women. Red Mango also has seven stores in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

: One in

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

, one in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, four in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

and one in

San Juan, Metro Manila San Juan, officially the City of San Juan (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 126,34 ...

Products

Red Mango uses all-natural, nonfat and lowfat

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

frozen yogurt fortified with

probiotics Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the microbiota in the Gut microbiota, gut. Probiotics are considered GRAS, generally safe to consume, but may cause bacteria– ...

. They were the first frozen yogurt store to be certified by the National Yogurt Association with the Live & Active Cultures seal, indicating the use of real yogurt. As of July 2008, the company's lineup of frozen yogurt flavors consisted of Original, Pomegranate, Madagascar Vanilla, and a rotating variety of seasonal or specialty flavors. These include Green Tea, Mango, Banana, Nutty Potion, and Peanut Butter. Red Mango's frozen yogurt is topped with fruits (such as blueberries, mango, pineapple, and strawberries) and/or "fun and crunchy" items (such as almonds, graham cracker, organic

granola Granola is a food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown. The mixture is stirred while baking to avoid b ...

, and

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

Management

The company's investors and advisors include John Antioco (former CEO and chairman of

Blockbuster Inc. Blockbuster or Blockbuster Video is an American multimedia brand which was founded by David Cook in 1985 as a single home video rental shop, but later became a public store chain featuring video game rentals, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on ...

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

, and Circle K Convenience Stores). The company, which currently has offices in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, raised $12 million in private equity financing in August 2008 and moved its headquarters from

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density ...

, to Dallas in early May 2009.

References

External links