First FreshBerry cafes open in Saudi Arabia

Beautiful Brands International has announced the opening of its first four locations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The openings are a result of an agreement between BBI and Saudi-based United Food Co. to market and franchise the frozen yogurt concept throughout the Middle East.

The openings are part of a 120-unit deal between BBI and United Food Company to extend the brand's reach into the Middle East and North Africa. The two companies anticipate the opening of 15 more units during the first quarter of 2010.

"We're very proud of our joint venture with BBI," said Raj Shah of United Food Co. "I believe our ability to offer any outlet type to franchisees from free-standing to profitable mall kiosks is a huge selling point to many area developers. Putting FreshBerry in places where there's high foot traffic increases brand recognition and, of course, allows consumers to more easily discover the quality taste of FreshBerry frozen yogurt."

The FreshBerry concept was created by Rutkauskas and his wife Camille. The first FreshBerry café opened in January 2008 in Tulsa, Okla. Today, there are 13 FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Cafés open and more than 455 units in development across Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Northern California, Southern California, Arizona, New York, Nevada, Idaho and Florida as well as in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt.

FreshBerry is one of 14 concepts marketed and developed by Beautiful Brands International.