World’s largest frozen yogurt franchise ranked among top 50 restaurant chains

FastCasual.com’s once again named the leading franchises, people, trends and technological advances among fast-casual restaurants in their annual Top 100 Movers and Shakers. We are honored to be named among the leading fast casual restaurant chains in the US.

Menchie’s was ranked 37th on the list of the top 50 chains — outranking by 10 points the only other frozen yogurt chain on the list. It’s the first appearance for Menchie’s on the Movers & Shakers list. The list has been produced by FastCasual.com every year since 2006 and this year’s nominations were made by the site’s readers.

Here’s what Fast Casual had to say:

Husband and wife duo Danna and Adam Caldwell opened the doors to their first Menchie’s in 2007, outside L.A. Six years and millions later, it’s safe to say their success in the fro-yo market isn’t melting anytime soon. The couple’s first date was in a yogurt shop, which inspired the Caldwells to eventually launch the concept that has since turned into a chain of 230 self-serve frozen yogurt shops. Their success has not only put Menchie’s on our radar, but it is also No. 49 on Forbes’ 2013 list of Ameri­ca’s most promising companies.

In fact, we can already update those numbers. Menchie’s has more than 350 locations worldwide and plans to open another 100 within the next year. Our phenomenal growth rate is part of the reason we were included in one of the most prestigious listings in the fast casual restaurant industry. We attribute our continued success to our simple strategy of serving up smiles and providing a positive guest experience that stems from placing community before commerce.

That sort of winning strategy, in which the guests’ happiness is our chief goal, translates into success for everyone. The business world has taken notice. Among our recent accolades:

• Forbes magazine ranked Menchie’s No. 49 on its list of America’s Most Promising Companies.
• Forbes named Menchie’s CEO Amit Kleinberger as one of its Most Promising CEOs Under 35.
• Forbes included Menchie’s co-founder Danna Caldwell as one of 11 women who started amazing companies.
• Entrepreneur magazine included Menchie’s in its Franchise 500, Fastest Growing and Top New categories in 2013 and 2012.

With our talented team, we envisioned this company as a place where families and friends could unwind, relax and just hang out, and we have never wavered from that vision. With happy guests, our franchisees are happy, too. Our simple business model is easy to learn and very scalable. Smiling guests translate into loyal repeat customers, and busy stores mean high sales volumes.

If you think Menchie’s could be the right opportunity for you, fill out the form at right to start a conversation.