Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt to Come to the Wasatch Front

California-based ‘Ice Cream Lover’s Frozen Yogurt’ Chain Announces Plan to Return to Utah After 16-Year Absence

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (April 23, 2009) – Golden Spoon frozen yogurt will soon be returning to the Wasatch Front. Golden Spoon Franchising executives announced their intent to bring the “ice cream lover’s frozen yogurt” chain back to the greater Salt Lake City area in the next year.

“We’ve had a surprisingly high number of inquiries about bringing Golden Spoon back to the Wasatch Front market, and we believe the brand has a positive legacy that continues to resonate in the Salt Lake City market,” said Golden Spoon Franchising CEO Roger Clawson.

Returning to the Wasatch Front is part of Golden Spoon Franchising’s aggressive global expansion of the popular frozen yogurt chain. The company has a strategic plan to grow by providing exclusive franchising agreements to both domestic and international franchise partners, positioning Golden Spoon as the nationally preferred frozen yogurt chain in the United States. Clawson says he plans to have an additional 500 stores under contract by the end of 2009.

Golden Spoon Franchising’s expansion into the Wasatch Front market opens a great business opportunity for enterprising entrepreneurs interested in a successful systems-based “un-franchise franchise” model. This unique business model focuses on the brand’s core values of premium-quality products, responsible wealth creation and social responsibility / community involvement. In the past five years, Golden Spoon locations have consistently experienced significant growth in same-store sales.

Golden Spoon frozen yogurt is a familiar name along the Wasatch Front. In the mid-1980s, the Southern California chain expanded into the Salt Lake City market and eventually partnered with Smith’s grocery stores. Although the chain initially flourished, internal management issues developed, and the Golden Spoon brand was forced to depart the SLC market. In 1993, Golden Spoon founder Jeff Barnes reacquired full ownership of his original stores in Southern California and relaunched the Golden Spoon operations under his direct leadership. The remaining Utah locations were renamed Golden Swirl and changed hands several times during the past decade and a half. Each has now closed its doors.

Since leaving Utah, the Golden Spoon chain has grown successfully throughout the Southwest. By remaining faithful to its core values, the chain has maintained its position as the top-selling frozen dessert chain in Southern California.

Its growth skyrocketed upon the 2008 creation of Golden Spoon Franchising, the brand’s franchising arm that has overseen the chain’s expansion into new markets, both domestic and international, beyond Southern California, with entry into the Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tokyo markets.

“We’ve found a great deal of success replicating the Golden Spoon model and the Wasatch Front is the next logical market for expansion,” said Golden Spoon Franchising President Ed Evans. “In addition to a large number of California-to-Utah transplants, the greater Wasatch Front’s residents are health-conscious consumers who also enjoy decadent frozen desserts. With Golden Spoon’s frozen yogurt, they can enjoy the taste and creaminess of a high-end ice cream product without the fat and calories.”

The return is a personal homecoming as well for Evans and Clawson, both of whom were raised in Utah. A University of Utah graduate, Evans was born and raised in the Foothill Village area; Clawson spent his teen years in Farmington and played football at Davis High and the University of Utah before transferring to Southern Utah University.

“We lived through the days of Golden Spoon’s first round in Utah, and we’re thrilled to bring the ‘ice cream lover’s yogurt’ to our hometown for our friends, family and other consumers to enjoy,” Evans said.

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About Golden Spoon Franchising
Golden Spoon Franchising is the business expansion arm of Golden Spoon, the popular Rancho Santa Margarita-based frozen yogurt chain. Founded in 1983, Golden Spoon has spent years earning its reputation as “the ice cream lover’s frozen yogurt” with more than 50 proprietary recipes that range from Old-Fashioned Vanilla and Just Chocolate to Cake Batter, Cappuccino and Simply Tart. Golden Spoon’s frozen yogurts bridge the gap between indulgent treats and healthful snacking with low calories, little or no fat, calcium, protein and probiotics (live active cultures). As a result, it is the premier brand of soft-serve frozen yogurt in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and Southern Utah, selling more yogurt here than any other frozen yogurt or ice cream chain. Golden Spoon has more than 100 stores open in the United States and Japan.

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