Smöoy

Last time I spoke about places which sell sweets, chocolates, etc. And now, I'm going to talk to you about another one of my favourites; Smöoy. This frozen yogurt franchise chain was born just a few years ago from a Murcian family, and what is even more surprising is the arrival of Llaollao too; it seems the first to open was Llaollao in Denia, and soon after, other relatives who founded Llaolao, established Smöoy. I'm not sure if it's a copy, but they are very similar, and although Llaollao opened first, I prefer Smöoy.

It's huge success is undeniable, as despite only being founded in recent years, its expansion has been extremely fast; not only in Spain but also in other countries such as Morocco or Ecuador, and they are soon opening shops in Paris, Panama, London, China, Oslo...it's impressive, and I'm very happy, as I travel a lot and want this shop to be as widespread as Starbucks in the U. S. A... In fact the best Marketing school are studying the case, and no wonder.

The star product offered by this chain is the frozen yoghurt. According to the shop themselves, yogurt is rich in fibre, low in fat, made of gluten-free ice-cream, is a source of protein, light and high in calcium; I don't doubt these claims about yoghurt, but it makes it seem like the perfect ice cream which you can eat whenever without worrying about your weight or more importantly, your health... the trap is the delicious toppings which you can add to your yoghurt and add to the calorie count too, as well as fats.

Aside from normal yoghurt, they have a special yoghurt every week (which can be anything, I tried the melon), cream ice cream and chocolate ice cream. Plus you can mix a normal and special yoghurt flavour in the same pot, or cream and chocolate, but not yoghurt with normal ice cream.

The cups for frozen yoghurt come in three sizes, and depending on the size you can more or less toppings:

• Smöoy Mini: yoghurt and one topping. The price is 2 euros
• Smöoy Classic: yoghurt and two toppings. The price is 2. 50 euros
• Smöoy Maxi: yoghurt and three toppings. The price is 3 euros

Although I have included the prices here, this is only for the shop in Murcia on Plaza Santo Domingo, because in other franchises I have seen price differences or more than 50 cents and a euro for a pot... which isn't good, as it's the same product and they should care more about the global policy of the company, even if it is a franchise.

There are more than 40 toppings to choose from, although not every store has them all, depending on the shop size there may be more or less variety. The toppings which you can add are: banana, kiwi, tangerine, mango, watermelon, grapes, pomegranate, tangerine, strawberry, chocolate cream, Ferrero cream, black chocolate, white chocolate, hazelnut, caramel, liquid nougat, crunchy chocolate, Smarties, Oreo cookies, berries, marshmallows, Dutch biscuit, muesli, mini cookies, shredded coconut, cranberries, KitKat, chocolate covered peanuts, caramelized nuts, apple, peanuts... I personally always go for chocolate cream (or double chocolate cream), sometimes adding hazelnuts (which is like the Kinder Bueno cream), or Dutch cake, or everything all together, so for me it is not a very healthy snack or dinner, but there is the option of throwing some fruit in...

Other products which you can order in this place are:

• Smöothies
• Freezers: like a smoothie with various flavours available
• Twisters: mixture of yoghurt and various ingredients, although I don't know what the difference is between this and the one that comes in a pot
• Hot Dog: this is new this year, they are rolls with frozen yoghurt inside, with toppings
• Hot options
• Hot drinks
• Sweet items: cookies, lollipops and large chocolates, muffins, etc

• Crepes and waffles: with frozen yoghurt and toppings

Moving on, I'm going to talk to you about the shop's image and other characteristics. . As you can see, the colour is predominantly fuchsia, and I think this colour is what drew me to Smöoy as opposed to Llaollao, which is green. The lettering is rounded, the inside of the shop is all white and very well lit, with a few cartoons, logos and information cards, napkins, etc. The pots are fuchsia, as are the spoons and napkins too, as well as the staff uniform. Another characteristic is that they usually have trays with mini smöoys on them, so that people passing by can take them and try for free, although I wouldn't be a customer without the toppings, but I was able to try the melon special smöoy. They also often give out coupons for a free extra topping.

The shops which I have visited usually have an inside space with tables and chairs, or an outside seating area, plus there are some with both options, or neither. The Smöoy in Nueva Condomina (a shopping centre in Murcia), is very amusing as it resembles an igloo, but it's very small, more expensive and has less toppings to choose from.

Another good thing about them, in my opinion, is that they offer a loyalty card. At first it was the standard one where they stamp it when you buy something, and at the end you got a gift. Now it is a card that has a points system, and you can check your points balance on a website exclusively for it. I have had both loyalty cards, and the first one I filled out (about 30 smöoys in 2 years), and as I got to the end I chose to get a litre of frozen yoghurt and three small pots with toppings, but you could redeem the card halfway through for a gift topping, which was not worth it. I have many loyalty cards, but few have been of any use to me, so I always use them, since it has given me benefits. Imagine me in summer with my litre of yoghurt and putting all the toppings I wanted and times that by two of three... The website where you can activate the card and check your points is http://www.smooystar.com.

Right now I have 4320 points! I could exchange them for various products, but I prefer to wait and earn a great big pot. The gifts you can get with points are:

• 100 points: 1 extra topping
• 3000 points: 1 lollipop or candy
• 3100 points: 1 waffle
• 4000 points: 1 hot drink
• 4200 points: 1 mini freezer
• 5000 points: 1 mini pot
• 6000 points: 1 classic pot
• 6100 points: 1 hot twister
• 6200 points: 1 freezer with a smöoy
• 7000 points: 1 twister
• 7100 points: 1 smoothie
• 7200 points: 1 hot combo
• 8000 points: 1 large pot
• 15000 points: 1 litre pot with 3 toppings

At first the number of people in Smöoy and in Llaollao was impressive, and the strange thing is that they keep filling up, especially in summer, but in winter it still has customers, I know this from experience since I am one of the winter clients, and I have encountered long queues when I want to order. I keep asking for a smöoy, and although they give me something cold, but they also have the other products that I mentioned earlier, they do not carry ice cream and they are more normal to be had in winter.