Sweet Frog (stylized as sweetFrog - Premium Frozen Yogurt) is a chain of
frozen yogurt retail restaurants owned and operated by Sweet Frog Enterprises, LLC. Sweet Frog customers create their own soft-serve frozen yogurt with numerous flavors and toppings from which to choose.
Derek Cha
Derek Cha is the founder of Sweet Frog, an American frozen yogurt chain, which originated in Richmond, Virginia in 2009.
Early life and Career
Derek Cha was born and raised in the Republic of South Korea. At the age of 12, Cha migrated to the ...
, who immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
from
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
at the age of 12, is the founder of Sweet Frog. He opened the first Sweet Frog shop in
Richmond,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
in 2009, at a time when the United States economy was in a
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
. Cha founded Sweet Frog on Christian principles. The "FROG" part of the name, according to Cha, is actually an acronym for "Fully Rely on God".
The Sweet Frog restaurant's interiors are painted pink and green, and the typical store consists of seven or eight frozen yogurt machines, toppings bars, and merchandise, much of which is centered on Sweet Frog's mascots "Scoop" and "Cookie."
In the Fall of 2018, SweetFrog was acquired by a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based
MTY Food Group Inc. of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
. Based in
Scottsdale,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
, at the time of its acquisition by MTY Food Group, the chain operated 332 locations in the United States and abroad, most of which are franchised.
Growth
Derek Cha
Derek Cha is the founder of Sweet Frog, an American frozen yogurt chain, which originated in Richmond, Virginia in 2009.
Early life and Career
Derek Cha was born and raised in the Republic of South Korea. At the age of 12, Cha migrated to the ...
started Sweet Frog with only one restaurant in 2009, and in four years Sweet Frog had grown to over 215 stores in 25 states in the U.S., with more stores located internationally in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
. In its first 3 years of franchising, over 60 Sweet Frog stores were opened. By the spring of 2012, it was reported that Sweet Frog had 100 stores, and expected to have 200 by the end of the calendar year Cha's goal was to have 200 Sweet Frog stores by the end of 2012. A 24 April 2013 article reported that Sweet Frog had 240 stores at the time of that writing, which would include corporate-owned, licensed and franchised locations. It added that Sweet Frog had grown from 130 stores only seven months earlier in October 2012. By 2020, Cha stated that he would like to have 1,000 U. S. locations and 1,000 international locations
On April 17, 2012, Boxwood Capital Partners, LLC announced that it had made a growth capital investment in sweetFrog Enterprises, LLC. Boxwood's minority investment is being used to help fund Sweet Frog's expansion plans across the country and internationally. Subsequent to the investment, James Patrick Galleher, the Managing Director at Boxwood Capital Partners became the Chief Executive Officer of Sweet Frog Enterprises, LLC.
In 2014, sweetFrog was listed #22 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in 2014 with revenues of $34.4 million.
On February 2, 2015, it was announced that Boxwood Capital Partners, LLC had acquired sweetFrog Enterprises, LLC.
The table below shows the Year (column 1), how many stores Sweet Frog opened during that year (column 2) and the total number of stores that Sweet Frog had open and was operating by the end of that calendar year (column 3):
Sponsorships
On April 18, 2016, it was announced by
BK Racing that sweetFrog would be sponsoring
David Ragan
David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox ...
and the No. 23
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact car, compact in size (narrow-body ...
for the
Toyota Owners 400 at
Richmond International Raceway. sweetFrog returned to sponsor Ragan's No. 23 for the
Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond in August. sweetFrog later appeared in the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
''
NASCAR Heat Evolution''.
See also
*
List of frozen yogurt companies
References
External links
Official website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States
2009 establishments in Virginia
Companies based in Richmond, Virginia
Frozen yogurt businesses
Regional restaurant chains in the United States
Restaurants established in 2009
Fast-food franchises
Fast-food chains of the United States