Moxie Consumer Products, L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of U-Swirl, Inc., has acquired the business assets of Moxie USA, L.L.C., including the intellectual property and worldwide license rights associated with national, regional and local distributors that currently are purchasing beverage and candy products for sale across more than 15 states. Moxie Consumer Products, L.L.C. was created for the purpose of selling beverages, toppings, and other consumer products.
“This acquisition provides an exceptional opportunity to add revenue streams to our existing business lines,” said Ulderico Conte, chief executive officer of U-Swirl, Inc., which is majority owned by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. “On a system-wide basis, corporate stores and franchisees purchase significant amounts of toppings and beverages, in addition to frozen yogurt ingredients. We believe this acquisition will enhance corporate revenue and earnings, while providing franchisees greater purchasing efficiencies. Moxie Consumer Products, L.L.C. will provide us with a relatively low-risk entry into the consumer products space, while enhancing our presence in schools, where the Mr. Flav beverage product is very popular.”
Mr. Conte said U-Swirl looks forward to the introduction of Mr. Flav beverage and Moxie toppings to the entire U-Swirl family of frozen yogurt brands.
“The self-serve frozen yogurt market is extremely fragmented, and we believe the initial step in consolidating an industry involves finding economies of scale by offering superior products at a competitive price,” he said. “U-Swirl intends to play an important role in this process as we pursue both organic growth and an aggressive acquisition program. In addition to our recent acquisitions of frozen yogurt chains, we are pursuing new store openings by franchisees under the U-Swirl, CherryBerry and Fuzzy Peach brands, with 32 stores currently in various stages of the development process.”
U-Swirl, Inc. is an operator and franchisor of self-serve frozen yogurt cafes that offer frozen yogurt in 20 non-fat and low-fat flavors, including tart, traditional and no-sugar-added options, along with fresh sorbet. Approximately 70 toppings such as fresh fruit, sauces, candies, and granola, are available to customize each serving of yogurt to the customer's individual taste.
In January 2013, the company acquired frozen yogurt cafe assets, franchise rights and certain other assets from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. in exchange for a 60% controlling ownership interest in the company. As of March 9, 2014, the company and/or its franchisees and licensees operated 286 self-serve frozen yogurt cafés in 38 states and 4 foreign countries.
