Spoon Me licks the competition with eco-friendly stores

It was only a year ago that Eat My Words named Spoon Me, and now it's the coolest frozen yogurt franchise on the planet.

Here is some recent press from the Daily Herald, which also includes a video of founder, Ryan Combe. (For the record, the word "cuddle," makes us cringe.)

Sunday, 24 August 2008

'Spoon Me' frozen yogurt shop looks to cuddle environment
by Ace Stryker

At Spoon Me, you can always chew on the silverware if your frozen yogurt hasn't filled you up.

"We don't recommend people eat our spoons, but people eat 'em," said Craig Jaynes, partner and manager of the new store that opened July 24 on Provo's Bulldog Boulevard.

It's not every day that a restaurant operator can view so cavalierly the consumption of his hardware without inviting serious litigation -- let alone the store's trash bags, which Jaynes suggested are also edible. That's because both products are made from corn derivatives. It's part of a larger effort on the part of the fledgling company's leadership to go "green;" from floor to ceiling, nearly everything in Spoon Me is designed to be easy on the environment.

"Yeah, you could eat a trash bag, I guess -- if you wanted to get crazy," said Ryan Combe, the company's founder and CEO.

Spoon Me started out with a vision by Combe and Jaynes's older brother, David, to capitalize on the popular frozen treat market while treating the earth as well as their customers.

"That's really what we're lacking today in America in business," Combe said. "We kind of went in blindly. We said, 'We'll be the ones that will kind of bite the bullet on it."

The first store opened in Salt Lake City last October. Then one in Sandy followed, and Provo's new location made it a trio. But the train doesn't stop rolling there: Combe and crew are opening another location in St. George on Thursday, and there are others in development in Las Vegas; Phoenix; and Austin, Texas. Combe said he plans to open one or two stores a month for the foreseeable future.

"We're proving that you can be successful doing little things," he said.

Walking into a Spoon Me shop, there isn't much that immediately screams environmentalism. A simple menu advertises the all-natural goodness of the product, but that's just the beginning.

Eco-friendly paint adorns the walls. The indoor and outdoor lights were chosen because they demand less energy. The same is true of special breakers installed in back that power the yogurt machines.

Employees wear shirts made of recycled linen and other green materials. The cleaning supplies might have been borrowed from under Mother Nature's kitchen sink.

"We really wanted to be a progressive company and do more than other people," Combe said. "

By no means do we want to be unique in this aspect."

In fact, Combe said he hopes his enterprise will inspire other businesses to pick up the same torch. He predicted that in five years, thanks to growing consumer awareness, eco-friendly commerce will be the norm rather than the exception.

That would make Spoon Me's day-to-day operations easier, Combe admitted. He said he battled conventional wisdom in the industry when he dreamt up the idea and still pays a 25 to 50 percent premium on green supplies.

"The convenience aspect of it is frustrating," he said. "If we run out of forks, we can't just run to Costco and get more."

But, he insists, the move is worth it. Knowing that spoons and bowls from a couple's date won't still be rotting in landfills when their great-grandchildren have passed is tough to put a price on, he said.

"In as little as 90 days, the remnants of your date will not exist anymore," he said. "I can go home at night and say, 'At least I'm doing my part.' "

The third leg of Spoon Me's mission, complementing its focus on the customer and the earth, is making a difference in the community. Each month, every location picks a local cause and puts a bowl on the counter for donations -- this month, Provo's store is raising funds for the Provo High School cheerleaders. Combe said his stores have raised as much as $1,000 a month to return to the community.

"That's why I think people have gravitated toward us," he said.

Both Combe and Jaynes expressed ambition in expanding Spoon Me to become a national, maybe even a global, name. At the rate they're going, it might not be too long before people everywhere are eating their silverware. "We want to spoon everyone," Jaynes said. "We're gonna spoon the world."