Local frozen yogurt company adds new flavors, catches up with competition

Sunberry, owned locally by Jeff George, has been serving natural frozen yogurt to the Tallahassee community since Oct. 31, 2007. Recently, though, the store has faced competition from newer chains like YogaBerry. To combat this competition, George added 60 new flavors to the menu.

These new flavors include fruits like pomegranate and acai, more traditional yogurt flavors like chocolate and the especially unique like toasted marshmallow. Instead of the flavors coming out of machines, like with the mango and original flavors, they are hand-mixed to order.

Business has increased for Sunberry since the addition of their new flavors.

“I’ve tried to expand the options for people who may not typically come into a store just to get frozen yogurt,” George said.

His customers are already reacting to the changes.

“I will totally go more now that they have new flavors,” said Florida State University sophomore Megan Khan-Karen.

Corporately-owned competition like TCBY and YogaBerry inspired George to add the flavors, but his ideas have been in the works for a while.

“In part, the competition [motivated the new flavors]. I mean, I wanted to differentiate my business from the others, but the flavors have actually been in the works for quite a while. I had wanted to expand the menu probably for over a year. I just didn’t quite know how to do that in the most economic way and efficient way, and recently, I figured out a way of doing it.”

In addition to the substantial additions to Sunberry’s menu, George works with several other factors to keep his local business thriving.

Sunberry’s Tennessee-street location, a short walk from Strozier Library or Oglesby Union on the Florida State University campus, is one thing that has allowed Sunberry to compete with bigger businesses like TCBY and YogaBerry.

“Just in terms of a business standpoint, location is key,” George said.

Sunberry uses more than location to beat competitors. George’s yogurt is very health-conscious, even more so than other companies’.

“I’m one of the healthiest ones, I would say…My yogurt has less sugar than [TCBY and YogaBerry]. I now have 60 flavors as opposed to maybe six, I think, that the other ones have. You’re going to find some very unique flavors here that you aren’t going to find anywhere else. “

Sunberry, whose recipe George calls “a closely guarded secret,” is 99% fat free and is 25 calories an ounce. Most of the toppings are also health-conscious, with add-ons like fruit, granola and cereal. George’s favorite toppings, ones he thinks are unique to his store, are mandarin oranges and grapes.

Sunberry customers can choose from a variety of toppings to enjoy with their yogurt.

In addition to frozen yogurt, Sunberry also offers smoothies and Southern Ice, which is yogurt blended with a fruit juice with a “slushie” consistency. No Sunberry products are made with powders, as other corporately owned shops’ products are.

This focus on natural ingredients and healthy indulgence targets a specific audience in Tallahassee and gives the store its own niche.

“As a dietetics major, I think it’s a much healthier option and it’s a good change from typical frozen yogurt,” said Khan-Karen.

Khan-Karen is not the only health-conscious customer.

“There are definitely very health conscious people here who appreciate very low-fat, low-cal desserts,” said George. “When I started, there wasn’t anything like that here.”

Sunberry also competes with bigger chains by getting involved in the community. George encourages local art by displaying it in his shop and works with Greek and non-Greek groups to raise funds.

“I generally like to do [fund raisers] for charitable organizations, you know, philanthropies. We pick a time and day and I give a percentage of sales from that chosen time to a chosen charity,” said George

George is especially proud of his work with Dance Marathon and Relay for Life, but recently worked with Alternative Break Corps.

Though Sunberry is no longer the only frozen yogurt option, it was initially one of the first of its kind in the area.

The store is modeled after frozen yogurt stores like Pinkberry in Los Angeles, which George discovered while working in California and decided to bring here.

“I worked in the movie industry for a few years and wasn’t making a whole lot of money,” George explained, laughing. “I had always been a big fan of yogurt and ice cream and frozen yogurt…and kind of saw the trend of what was happening out west with this very healthy, low-cal, low-fat frozen yogurt.”

George thought the business would be “a very successful concept” in Tallahassee. However, he did need to make some changes in bringing the business east.

“The yogurt is slightly different,” George said. “The California-style yogurt has a very unique, intense yogurt flavor. It’s good, but I like my version better. It has a little bit more natural flavor. I feel like the California flavor masks some of the natural flavor of the fruits.”

George does sell a new flavor called California Tart, which is similar to that original western flavor, but most of his flavors are sweeter.

With the many new flavors to try, there is something for everyone, tart or sweet. George calls the customer’s reactions to these new flavors “very encouraging.”

“I would say almost half of the sales at least now are these new specialty flavors,” he said. “People are very excited, a little overwhelmed at first, but then they try them and love them.”

Sunberry is already seeing an increase in sales, and Chelsea Schultz, who has been working at Sunberry since Aug. 2009, said customers seem to be reacting positively.

“It’s nice now because they come in and have a lot of options to choose from,” said Schultz. “I mean, every time they come in now they can try something different!”