That a frozen yoghurt chain could go from four stores in Victoria to more than 40 across the country in just a few years is pretty unbelievable. But when said chain has enough clout to take on a harbourfront tenancy that previously housed not one but two celebrated fine diners, you can’t help but wonder – hath hell froyo’d over?

Nope, it’s just 2024 calling – the year that saw a pygmy hippo win the internet; a twice-impeached president (and convicted felon) get re-elected; and Yo-Chi open its biggest Australian store in Barangaroo, with 165 seats and enough blond wood and copper to sink a ship.

Three years ago, you couldn’t have made it up. Yo-Chi “refounder” Oliver Allis tells Broadsheet that when he and his brother Riley (the sons of Boost Juice mogul Janine Allis) opened Yo-Chi’s first Sydney store in Surry Hills, in 2021, the reception to their froyo was frigid. “People were like – the frozen yoghurt fad has come and gone. What are these guys even doing?”

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Fast forward to now and Yo-Chi is a cultural phenomenon almost as big as Moo Deng. As Broadsheet’s James Williams wrote earlier this year, “If you’re looking for a low-cost, high-vibe ‘third place’ to hang out, there’s really nowhere else to go.” A cohort of young people are finding that for the price of a pint, they can have dessert and the same buzz of a pub.

“People have come to terms with the fact that Yo-Chi wasn’t what the old froyo fad was. This Barangaroo store is a symbol of how Yo-Chi has kind of changed what frozen yoghurt is. It’s a pretty defining moment for us,” Allis says.

To match the occasion of a flashy flagship, Yo-Chi’s design director (and Oliver’s cousin) Claudia Marro splashed out on the chain’s most luxe fit-out yet. Joining 12 self-serve froyo taps is a topping bar that mimics the space’s natural curves. Barangaroo also sports the most greenery of any Yo-Chi store, to go with a robust environmental waste management program.

Though he calls it a flagship venue today, Allis says there was plenty of “umming and ahhing” about the site. The average Yo-Chi store is 100 square metres, or about 40 seats. This one’s four times that, smack-bang in the middle of one of Sydney’s glossiest lifestyle precincts. “The rent is more expensive than we’ve ever paid before. It was a really big call.”

The brand’s proclivity for “A-plus” sites in semi-residential areas also needed a rethink. “Barangaroo was really different [for Yo-Chi] because it’s in a new precinct. It’s a tourist area, which isn’t our usual customer base. You’ve got all the offices, which isn’t a demographic we’ve tapped into yet. We’re sort of breaking our own mould here.”

Despite social media comments saying otherwise, Allis says the Barangaroo store isn’t just “one for the corporate girlies”.

“In one moment, I’d see grandmas and their grandkids, high school kids on first dates, uni students, and tourists from five different countries all in that same venue.”

Yo-Chi Barangaroo
Shop 10/23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo

Hours:
Daily 10am–11pm

@iloveyochi