Yo-Chi, the most zeitgeist of eating-out experiences in Sydney, upends stereotypes about fro-yo

Daftar Isi

Yo-Chi, the frozen yoghurt chain that's gone from four shops to almost 40 in just four years, might be the most of-the-age experience when it comes to eating out.

Fair dinkum, this place is a cracker – reasonably priced, super social, with its top tunes and trendy eats matched by its lush green surrounds and bright as can be neon signs that shout out "Share the Chi".

On a warm Friday evening during summer at Yo-Chi's flagship store in Barangaroo, couples, mates, groups of friends, teenagers, little nippers and a bunch of office workers with loosened ties take turns filling the chain's black and white cups with yoghurt flavours from 12 wall taps.

Strawberry cream, chocolate, vanilla, mango, tart and salted butterscotch flavours slowly ooze out, quite a surprise.

A metre away, at a long, curved, glass-enclosed, two-sided serving counter, big porcelain bowls hold fresh lychees, sliced strawberries and mounds of blueberries.

Others have peach-flavoured popping pearls, sour rainbow lolly strips, nutty cereal, ginger crumble, mini Smarties and chocolate brownie bits. There are dishes, bottles and jugs of warm chocolate, Nutella and butterscotch sauce.

Should anyholder yoghurt (the top pick) be paired with chocolate freckles, cornflake crunch, crunchy milk balls, chopped almonds and Pistachio Papi spread?

Will matcha and strawberry cream yoghurts go with fresh rockmelon and pineapple, chocolate wafers, strawberry mochi, and crumble, which is a buttery mix of oats and cinnamon?

And would mango yoghurt layered with chocolate chip biscuit dough, chocolate crumb (slightly sweetened, crushed dark chocolate cocoa nibs), kiwi fruit, passionfruit and lemon curd and raspberry coulis work together?

Fair dinkum. Tonight, after each cup is scanned at the cash register, it jumps up to an average of $12-$18 per cup to find out. The answers are: Yerse, yerse and, fair suck of the sav, yerse.

Yo-Chi's yoghurt is fresh, clean, and gentle on the sweetness and rich in creaminess. The fruity flavours are genuine and the tangy, matcha and chocolate flavours get a fair run.

Move to fresh fruit toppings, go all out with a mountain of lollies, or top it off with dark and fruity granola, chopped nuts and a crumble. It's up to the customer.

Up till September, the chain's flagship store is that.

Yo-Chi brand director and co-owner Oliver Allis, who swung the deal to buy what was a four-store chain back in 2020 with his brother Riley (their mum is Boost Juice founder Janine Allis), reckons it's all about breaking the mould.

We were stuffed from a start here in Sydney," he says. "Everyone thought, 'Fair dinkum, it's just beneath-par frozen yoghurt, who are these blokes, anyway?' We've been trying to steer clear of that misconception ever since.

First, they distinguished their yoghurt from other brands on the market.

“Some just chuck a few scoops of powder and some water into a machine, but we get big tubs of yoghurt that we just pour straight into the machines,” he says. “It makes a huge difference. You can really taste the creaminess and the quality.”

The visitor experience is quite striking. A person in a uniform, the maitre-d', greets each visitor, and explains the process to those who don't know the ropes.

From staff to customers, everyone is a model of good manners. Lines move smoothly but people stood there looking stunned by the options at the toppings bar aren't hurried along.

Yo-Chi at Barangaroo, with its wood, plant and light-filled interior designed by design director Claudia Marro (Allis's cousin), turns floral notions about frozen yoghurt chains upside down, finding them tacky, plastic and over-the-top sugary about milk.

Allis is big on reducing waste. All Yo-Chi packaging is compostable, including spoons, cups, and sample pots. In SA and WA, it straight away goes to commercial composting operators.

“The cup that goes into the bin gets turned into soil,” he says. “Some of the strawberry farms we get our strawberries from use the compost from it, and then we buy the strawberries.”

Allis, who wants composting facilities in NSW, Queensland and Victoria to start accepting their packaging, says Yo-Chi also stopped selling bottled water and soft drinks in their stores two years back.

Free still and bottled sparkling water facilities have been installed.

We're aiming to make the most of our role as a spot for socialising, instead of just being a casual frozen yoghurt stop," he says. "It's somewhere for everyone to drop by.