An Aussie self-serve frozen yoghurt chain dubbed “Gen Z’s nightclub” is hurtling towards an eye-watering $2bn valuation as it expands across the globe.
Yo-Chi, run by the family behind Boost Juice, saw sales explode 55 per cent to $227m in the 12 months to June 30 as young Australians embrace sober, budget-friendly nights out over expensive pub sessions.
The empire has expanded to 74 outlets across Australia and Singapore, with long-term plans targeting 400 locations across the US, UK, and Thailand.
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Yo-Chi Frozen Yoghurt has been dubbed “Gen Z’s nightclub”. Picture: Richard Walker
Behind the viral social media queues and weekend store DJs is a dramatic turnaround led by Chief Brand Director Ollie Allis, now 29, who took over the languishing business with his father in 2019 when he was just 23.
It came after, Mr Allis was unemployed and travelling on a gap year after graduating from university, when the opportunity arose.
Mr Allis revealed on the Sweat Capital podcast how he used the chain’s early struggles to completely rethink why frozen yoghurt had lost its appeal.
When Mr Allis was 15, Yo-Chi opened its first venue five minutes from his Melbourne high school.
Like hundreds of teenagers in 2013, he became obsessed with the self-serve dessert wave launched by toy billionaire Manny Stul and stepson Paul Solomon.
Celebrity chef George Calombaris’s MAdE Establishment acquired the business in 2018, but by 2020 the hospitality group had fallen into voluntary administration. Yo-Chi was left standing with just four operational stores.
Mr Allis had just completed a business degree and returned from a year of backpacking when his father, Boost Juice co-founder Jeff Allis, proposed buying the struggling business together.
“Yo-Chi had the magic dust even before we got it,” Mr Allis said.
“They were relevant; then they weren’t. My job was to make Yo-Chi relevant again.”
Yo-Chi co-owner and chief brand officer Oliver Allis.
Part of that resurrection came from tapping into a massive generational shift among young Australians looking for alcohol-free community spaces during a cost-of-living crisis.
“The generational trend of people drinking less, looking for large-format spaces to connect where everyone feels welcome … it’s humungous for us,” Mr Allis said.
“It substitutes for a Thursday or Friday night drinks. Going to the pub can be $80 later, at least. You can get a really cool experience at Yo-Chi without blowing your bank.”
To make the venues viable as high-energy social hubs, the company overhauled store operations, introducing double-sided topping bars that slashed customer wait times by 50 per cent.
Because customers serve and weigh their own bowls at $4 per 100g, store labour costs remain exceptionally low.
The average venue costs $800,000 to fit out but generates $3.1m in annual sales with a 42 per cent earnings margin, allowing franchisees to recover set up costs in under 10 months.
The empire has expanded to 74 outlets across Australia and Singapore.
Yo-Chi opened its first store in UK
Mr Allis also spearheaded unorthodox marketing tactics, including giving away free yoghurt to customers who walked 10,000 steps to a store on Sundays under their “Walk Don’t Run Club”.
“We love anti-business marketing, zigging while the others are zagging,” he said.
ASIC filings show net profits doubled to $24.1m in FY25, with sales projected to hit $316m by June 2027.
Investment manager Ellerston Capital recently acquired a 4 per cent stake during a capital raising managed by UBS, while the Allis family retains 74 per cent control.
Despite snaking queues for new international openings in London’s Notting Hill and Dallas, Texas, Mr Allis said maintaining cult status requires constant discipline.
“I call myself the Brand Guardian,” Mr Allis said.
“I’m sometimes like, ‘Is any day now just going to pop and people are going to stop lining up for Yo-Chi?’
“But we’re doing everything to maintain that relevance.”
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