Wakaberry, the once popular and loved soft serve frozen yoghurt bar that had a number of chain stores across the country, has closed the doors of its last remaining store in South Africa, owner Famous Brands has confirmed.
The South African established, first-of-its-kind frozen yoghurt bar popped up in Durban in the early 2010s and soon became one of the fastest growing companies in the country, taking over most malls and using hype and its vibrant aesthetic to build its success.
The founders, inspired by the popular “Froyo” industry overseas where they lived for a while, saw an opportunity to bring the concept to the South African market when they returned to the country and that is how the first self-service, pay per weight yoghurt store in SA was born.
The first store was opened in an old bank building on Florida Road in Durban in 2011.
Initially, Wakaberry was family owned and managed. Founded by Ken and Michele Fourie and their business partner Clark, the brand was not originally set out to be a franchise.
However, customer demand and requests from people interested in buying into the business, led to its first franchised store in Lonehill, Johannesburg, in 2012.
Three years after the opening of its first store, Wakaberry was already boasting 33 franchised stores extending across eight provinces, 175,000 Facebook followers, and the title of ‘brand leader’ in the frozen yoghurt category in South Africa.
In the same year, 2014, Wakaberry became the first yoghurt bar outside of the United States to be recognised by the International Frozen Yoghurt Association and was awarded the ‘Three Swirls of Honour’ in recognition of their excellence.
In 2014 still, restaurant franchise group, Famous Brands, acquired a 70% stake in the Wakaberry business with the intention to grow the 33 stores it acquired to at least 40 stores within a few months.
However, that goal was not entirely fulfilled and the store growth only increased to 37 by 2015. By 2016, a R12 million impairment against the Wakaberry business led to the closure of two stores, making a total of 35 stores countrywide.
In 2017, Famous Brands stated that Wakaberry continued to be negatively affected by the overall decline of the frozen yoghurt industry in South Africa, and closed down a further 10 stores.
Noticing this decline, Wakaberry began being phased out as an entity by Famous Brands. By 2020, only six stores were still open, which decreased to three stores in 2021, then only two in 2022, and lastly, just one at the end of the 2024 financial year (ending 29 February), according to BusinessTech.
Now, in September 2024, all Wakaberry stores have now closed, marking the end of a once-promising and thriving frozen yoghurt industry in South Africa.
IOL