Sweet Frog facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Chain restaurant, Franchise |
| Founded | Richmond, Virginia (2009) |
| Founder | Derek Cha and Annah Kim |
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Number of locations
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350+ stores (2/2016) |
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Area served
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United States Dominican Republic |
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Key people
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Kevin Spencer Garrett |
| Products | Frozen yogurt and Sweet Frog merchandise |
| Parent | MTY Food Group |
Sweet Frog is a popular chain of frozen yogurt shops. It is known for letting customers create their own frozen yogurt treats. You can choose from many flavors and add lots of different toppings.
The company was started by Derek Cha. He came to the United States from South Korea when he was 12 years old. The very first Sweet Frog shop opened in Richmond, Virginia in 2009. This was during a time when the U.S. economy was having some problems.
Derek Cha built Sweet Frog on Christian ideas. The "FROG" in the name stands for "Fully Rely on God."
Sweet Frog restaurants are easy to spot with their bright pink and green colors inside. Most stores have several frozen yogurt machines. They also have big bars filled with toppings. You can find merchandise too, often featuring Sweet Frog's fun mascots, "Scoop" and "Cookie."
Sweet Frog has many locations across the United States. It also has stores in the Dominican Republic. Most of these stores are franchises, meaning they are owned by individual business people. Sweet Frog also offers dairy-free options for those who cannot have milk.
How Sweet Frog Grew
Derek Cha started Sweet Frog with just one shop in 2009. In only four years, the company grew very quickly. It expanded to over 215 stores across 25 states in the U.S. Sweet Frog also opened stores in other countries. These included the Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom, and Egypt.
In its first three years of offering franchises, over 60 new Sweet Frog stores opened. By the spring of 2012, there were 100 stores. The company hoped to have 200 by the end of that year. By April 2013, Sweet Frog had grown to 240 locations. This included stores owned by the company and those owned by others.
In 2012, a company called Boxwood Capital Partners invested money in Sweet Frog. This investment helped Sweet Frog grow even faster. It allowed them to open more stores across the country and around the world.
In 2014, Sweet Frog was recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies. It was listed at number 22 on the Inc. 500 list. This showed how much the company had expanded.
Later, in 2015, Boxwood Capital Partners bought Sweet Frog Enterprises, LLC. Then, in 2018, Sweet Frog became part of a larger company. It was acquired by MTY Food Group Inc., which is based in Canada.
Sweet Frog Sponsorships
Sweet Frog has also been involved in sports. In 2016, Sweet Frog sponsored a NASCAR race car. They supported driver David Ragan and his No. 23 Toyota Camry. This happened at the Toyota Owners 400 race in Richmond. Sweet Frog also sponsored Ragan again later that year.
You might have even seen Sweet Frog in a video game. The company appeared in the racing game NASCAR Heat Evolution.
See also
- List of frozen yogurt companies
