‘We’re the new Vegemite’: Yo-Chi wins over London, next stop America

The first person in line for last Thursday’s midday opening of Yo-Chi’s 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 – her mock-up of a compostable Yo-Chi cup.

Videos circulating on social media about Yo-Chi’s new British outlet in Notting Hill show queues wrapping the block. More than one TikTok creator (styling themselves as “queue correspondents”) have begun tracking how quickly the lines are moving.

“The reception we got was just pinch-yourself kind of stuff,” said Yo-Chi chief brand officer Oliver Allis about the store’s opening.

“It 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.”

Yo-Chi’s fame has spread by word of mouth. Travellers to Australia often visit the brand’s packed, pastel coloured, neon-lit stores that have earned the nickname “youth’s nightclub”. 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.

In Australia, Yo-Chi’s 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 (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.

Singapore was Yo-Chi’s first step abroad . Its debut in the UK has put it squarely on the global playing field. Two US stores are set to open this year.

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’s in New York, though most are grab-and-go outlets rather than sit-down venues.

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 .

“What 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,” said Allis. “I said to someone the other day, but I think we’re like – this is a big statement – the new Vegemite,” he said.

“Instead of saying, ‘you got to try Vegemite when you come to Australia’, you got to try Yo-Chi when you come to Australia.”

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.

“We gotta work hard to debunk those perceptions of what frozen yoghurt was,” said Allis.