Newcomer to frozen yoghurt market branching out
Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015 | 3:51 PMTameka Gordon
Newcomer to the frozen yoghurt market, Fruitalicious Novelties Limited, will open its second store in Manchester in another two weeks and another in Kingston during summer.
The frozen yogurt shop joins two other major players,Tutti Frutti and Sweet Tooth, but hopes to eke out a market for itself with its line of fruit-flavoured dairy snacks whose main ingredients are sourced from its Florida-based parent.
Tutti Frutti commands the lion's share of the market while Sweet Tooth is a relatively new player.
Fruitalicious is jointly owned by Coy Little and Ivanah Thomas, while the Florida operation, Fruitalicious Frozen Yogurt, is registered to Karen Williams and Ivanah Thomas, according to company records.
The eight-month-old Jamaican business has its main outlet in Portmore, St Catherine, with roughly 20 employees, said manager Coy Little.
Another 15 persons will be hired for the Park Crescent, Mandeville, location which will be double the size of the Portmore store. The new location will also feature three levels and a more sophisticated layout than the headquarters, he said.
Little, whose background is in accounting, said he invested $25 million to set up the Portmore store with another $35 million spent on the Mandeville outlet.
Financing for the business came from the overseas partners, Little said.
"I bought into the overseas company then decided to branch out and open one in Jamaica."
Through expansion to high density areas, Fruitalicious hopes to take "at least 40 per cent" of the local market.