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August 30, 2026 \u2014 12:14pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The first person in line for last Thursday\u2019s midday opening of Yo-Chi\u2019s first London store had been there since 6:30pm. Not an Aussie, but a Brit. The second person in line was an Australian girl, no older than 12, who had created a home-made cardboard box \u2013 her mock-up of a compostable Yo-Chi cup.<\/p>\n Videos circulating on social media about Yo-Chi\u2019s new British outlet in Notting Hill show queues wrapping the block. More than one TikTok creator (styling themselves as \u201cqueue correspondents\u201d) have begun tracking<\/a> how quickly the lines are moving.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reception we got was just pinch-yourself kind of stuff,\u201d said Yo-Chi chief brand officer Oliver Allis about the store\u2019s opening.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was bonkers, absolutely bonkers. Not even just Aussies, there were a lot of English and locals in the line. There were surprisingly more Brits than I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n Yo-Chi\u2019s fame has spread by word of mouth. Travellers to Australia often visit the brand\u2019s packed, pastel coloured, neon-lit stores that have earned the nickname \u201cyouth\u2019s nightclub\u201d. Foreigners become fans and tell friends at home about the frozen yoghurt shop that has become a regular date spot, after-school snack pick-up or meet-up spot after dinner as an alternative to a bar. On the weekends, queues out the door aren\u2019t an uncommon sight, and London\u2019s lines showed the self-serve bar\u2019s popularity wasn\u2019t Australia-specific.<\/p>\n Related Article In Australia, Yo-Chi\u2019s title as the leading frozen yoghurt chain is not in dispute. Since the Melbourne-founded chain was purchased by the family of Boost founder Janine Allis from George Calombaris in 2020<\/a> (who had bought it from toy businessman Manny Stul), it has exploded across the nation from four stores to more than 75. No domestic competitor comes close to its scale and popularity.<\/p>\n Singapore was Yo-Chi\u2019s first step abroad<\/a>. Its debut in the UK has put it squarely on the global playing field. Two US stores are set to open this year will test the Australian cult favourite froyo\u2019s ability to handle two of the world\u2019s biggest Western markets.<\/p>\n International Yo-Chi customers are served yoghurt made from Australian milk that has been freighted frozen. Yo-Chi faces competitors in greek yoghurt players Go Greek and MYKA, which are looking to grow their own global footprints, and Mimi\u2019s in New York, though most are grab-and-go outlets rather than sit-down venues.<\/p>\n Spanning 2000 square feet across two floors with capacity to hold 120 guests, the London outpost is the biggest the Australian chain has built to date. On its second day of trading, Allis spent hours chopping strawberries after four workers called in sick. Before the store closed for the day, staff had to prevent more people joining the long queue<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we were offering, which was not just frozen yoghurt and acai and good vibes, it was the space for young people to hang out. This sort of need is in every market,\u201d said Allis. \u201cI said to someone the other day, but I think we\u2019re like \u2013 this is a big statement \u2013 the new Vegemite,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of saying, \u2018you got to try Vegemite when you come to Australia\u2019, you got to try Yo-Chi when you come to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Australia, Britain had its own frozen yoghurt frenzy that came and went in the early to mid-2010s. There are still sceptics who never understood what the big deal was.<\/p>\n \u201cWe gotta work hard to debunk those perceptions of what frozen yoghurt was,\u201d said Allis. Most people change their minds when they come in and try it for themselves, he maintains.<\/p>\n A Gen Z-focused brand, Yo-Chi is deft at influencer marketing. To amplify its arrival in London, Allis and his team struck up an official friendship with British YouTubers Sophia Tuxford and Cinzia Baylis-Zullo, the podcasters behind The Girls Bathroom, who tried Yo-Chi two years ago during a visit to Australia and raved about it to their one million followers.<\/p>\n Yo-Chi\u2019s expansion to London was announced in one of their podcast episodes, and the duo was there for the store\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always knew that we\u2019d want to work with them, but wasn\u2019t sure in what format, and thought they\u2019d be too expensive. And then we thought actually, let\u2019s just shoot our shot and try to do it organically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say it was a masterstroke, but it worked really well,\u201d said Allis. \u201cRather than being like a multinational company who just does a launch around themselves, it was very community-led, which was really cool.\u201d <\/p>\n Each global market features toppings unique to that country. UK customers can top up their bowl with apple pie and cherry compote. Allis is working on a \u201ccheeky cup of tea\u201d flavour. One day, Yo-Chi intends to be in all of London\u2019s trendiest hotspots: Soho, Clapham, Islington. \u201cNothing [is] signed,\u201d said Allis. \u201cWe want to not get ahead of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Yo-Chi\u2019s American dream<\/p>\n Yo-Chi\u2019s next opening may surprise some: Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n The way Yo-Chi (which does not franchise domestically) selects which international market to target is less about the market itself and more about finding the right local partner. Allis literally puts potential partners through the pub test: if he doesn\u2019t want to have a beer with them, the chemistry isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n Related Article Yo-Chi\u2019s UK partners are Stral Zarkovic, co-founder of sustainable fashion label Pangaia, and Mitchel Galvin-Farnol, who founded minimal streetwear brand NICCE. Yo-Chi\u2019s Texas partners are Doug Shaw, chief executive of restaurant group Donald Reagan, and Dana and Scott Palmer \u2013 two lawyers. Allis declined to reveal the shareholding split across its joint venture partnerships.<\/p>\n In Dallas, Yo-Chi hired a young social media creator to run a stealth social media account called Dallas Deserves The Best, which vox-popped locals about the need for third spaces and date spots and filmed skits pretending to convince Allis about opening up in Dallas before the company revealed they were behind it. Faith Ward, a 22-year-old dancer from Perth and a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, has been engaged by the business to spread the word.<\/p>\n Yo-Chi is toying with the idea of developing a pumpkin spice frozen yoghurt flavour and a sweet Texan barbecue topping, the latter flavour being more of a \u201ctalking point\u201d, Allis adds as a caveat.<\/p>\n He is keen to see Yo-Chis find a home in Miami, LA and New York, and is looking for partners to bring those to life. \u201cI think the rocket ship has got some fuel at the moment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Yo-Chi\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d6f07a45b89f0a6e798c6e4ae91ea7b9b150ccb4e778cb1455392ebb350cdda5.gif\")
Yo-Chi\u2019s first UK outpost went viral online for absurd, hours-long queues.TikTok<\/p>\n![\"Frozen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/59aae6377f358a9c6628da4b5f773c6951755b54.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Allis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c1d7e1064442992a6fc29d66c47780eeb117da5b.jpeg\")
Allis wants all of Yo-Chi\u2019s international stores to offer the same experience available to Australian consumers.Yo-Chi<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30ff1f47ff497a4dc764ae8d0949f70a55e32efb.jpeg\")
People started lining up at 6:30am for the grand opening of Yo-Chi\u2019s first UK outpost.Yo-Chi<\/p>\n![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788078387_222_318571d33afe39ce12f6515900e4e21541fc9405.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Jessica](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788078389_613_1d6419be13aa9280d0a4132d991ec3d3adfaaaf85e9396b2f7a52ebb2dd15b00.png\")
Jessica Yun<\/a> is a business reporter covering retail and food for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners