Edmond frozen yogurt shop offers a twist Business Serving themselves, customers mix flavors, topping

Date AddedJuly 31, 2009 01:06:02 PM

Author

BY BRIAN KIMBALL
Published: July 15, 2009

EDMOND - A trend from the West Coast has made its way to Oklahoma.

Orange Tree Frozen Yogurt - a franchise that started in California - has been operating in Edmond since early April and more stores are planned for Oklahoma in the coming months.

The yogurt shop, 1389 E 15th St., has nearly 30 varieties of frozen yogurt - although only 14 are offered at one time, with two flavors each in the seven self-serve machines.

If patrons can imagine it, they can make it. People can mix and match flavors and pile on up to 34 toppings, including seven types of fresh fruit. The cost of the yogurt concoction is 36 cents per ounce.

"Right now everything is being customized, anything from computers to cars," said Orange Tree CEO Jin Park. "Letting customers create their own mix of yogurt, portion size and toppings gives them pleasure and they can get exactly what they want."

The Edmond store is the first of its kind in Oklahoma, but Park said as many as 10 stores could open statewide by the end of the year. Stores in Stillwater and south Oklahoma City are in the works, and Lawton, Tulsa, north Oklahoma City and Norman are targets for "aggressive expansion" in the state, Park said.

Kevin Moon, a graduate of Moore High School and the University of Oklahoma, said he wanted to bring Orange Tree to Oklahoma, and Edmond was the perfect place to start. The city is growing, has two four-year universities and is "very family oriented," all key factors in deciding where to open stores, Moon said.

"The weather has been helping, too. It's a very seasonal business," Moon said. "But because of all the health benefits of yogurt, I expect the business to be as good now as it will be in the fall or spring, or even in the winter."

Orange Tree's yogurt is healthy, Moon said. Aside from the fresh fruit toppings, the yogurts contain probiotics, which help people's digestive systems function better and improves their immune systems, he said.

At Orange Tree, it's not just about providing a tasty treat; it's about making a healthy dessert that's fun for the whole family, Moon said.

"We are capturing the trend where people are looking for more healthy dessert," Park said. "That's the key, we try to go as natural as we can and be as low in fat, sugar and calories as possible."