On Monday, May 24, beginning at 6 p.m., Utahns are invited to help themselves to a free cup of yogurt at any Golden Swirl Frozen Yogurt location.
Make a note. It's Golden Swirl (formerly Golden Spoon), and it's free.Michael Glauser, president of Golden Swirl Frozen Yogurt, is staging Thank Utah Night to introduce the company's new name and thank Utah customers for consuming millions of cups of the nonfat frozen treat since the company opened in 1986.
"We feel we should contribute. We are as large as we are because of the success we've had in Utah," Glauser said.
The company, which opened in Utah under the name Golden Spoon, was unable to obtain "Golden Spoon" as a national trademark. Thus, it created and trademarked the name "Golden Swirl" when it opened stores in California, Nevada and Arizona.
The company owns 55 locations in the West and has a joint venture in the Middle East that operates seven retail outlets in Saudi Arabia and distributes Golden Swirl's wholesale product line.
The product has become known worldwide, but the heart of the operation remains where it started - Salt Lake City.
Glauser, who formerly operated a management consulting business and was a university professor of business management, started the business with his wife Mary as "kind of a hobby."
After studying the business in California, Mary Glauser, whose background is in fitness, nutrition and education, and Michael Glauser combined talents to open frozen yogurt shops at Crossroads Plaza and Valley Fair Mall.
"The first stores did so well, our investors said, `We'll pitch in some more money if you'll jump in and take it seriously,' " Glauser said.
With that, Glauser gave up his consulting business and threw himself into business full time. For 1992, the company's sales for its retail and wholesale product line, marketed domestically under the name Northern Lights, exceeded $12 million.
The company has grown 50 to 100 percent each year since 1986. "We think we can double the company in the next couple of years," he said.
Golden Swirl is considering expansion in the Middle East, Europe and Mexico as well as expanding wholesale yogurt sales in the food service industry.
It is a lean company, employing 400 people but only nine in upper management.
"We've built without debt and we've built slowly. We're just not at risk. We've been quite conservative. In the single-item specialty business you have to be," he said.
Golden Swirl's formula for success is three pronged: Offer a superb product; offer legendary service and provide the product and service in a clean and attractive environment.
To ensure good customer service, Golden Swirl has instituted a stringent employee recruiting process. "We require our people to interview 10 people for every position they fill," Glauser said.
Once hired, Golden Swirl employees undergo rigorous training in customer service and product knowledge.
"I'd like them to respond to the customers more enthusiastically than they do me," Glauser said. "We empower every employee to satisfy the customer without getting permission from anybody."
Prescreening of employees, training, performance measurements and feedback are expensive, but they pay off in terms of employee retention, customer service and well-run stores.
Nationwide, the employee turnover rate in the food service industry is 400 percent. "We turn over every crew once a year but not four times a year," Glauser said.
Golden Swirl offers cash incentives for employees who demonstrate extraordinary service, such as an employee who arranged the home delivery of yogurt for a Christmas celebration.
Golden Swirl also attempts to meet the needs of managers, offering them the Golden Swirl Institute for Strategic Management. Employees who complete eight courses are rewarded with a certificate and $1,000 cash.
While Glauser brings a background of academia to the business, he and other upper-management employees work in the stores alongside teenage employees. "We've tried to de-emphasize the status of the corporate office. The key people are in the stores," Glauser said.
Said Lane Vance, vice president of sales and marketing, "Nobody is above picking up a mop or cleaning a toilet."
Employees are but part of the equation at Golden Swirl. The company devotes considerable resources to product development, working with researchers ranging from Utah State University and the National Dairy Board to the American Diabetes Association.
When developing new flavors, the company may work several months before perfecting recipes for French Vanilla or Very Strawberry.
The recipes are subject to blind taste tests by consumers and professional taste testers. "If our product can't beat their product by 70 percent preference, we don't sell that product," Glauser said.
Golden Swirl also conducts consumer surveys to determine its customers' favorite flavors. Swiss chocolate is a perennial favorite.
The company has kept a low profile over the past seven years, with Glauser and other principals refusing publicity. But the company has kept its name before the public by sponsoring competitive runs and school fairs.
The company contributes for philanthropic reasons but also to introduce its frozen yogurt to audiences who might otherwise not be exposed to the product.
The growth of the frozen yogurt business struck the Glausers at the company's recent annual management training meeting. "My wife and I can't believe it. We're amazed. This little thing got out of control," he said.
From the start, Glauser wanted to create a "model business" - a marriage of textbook know-how and elbow grease.
"I feel some pressure (to succeed). To go back to the consulting business some day and be known as the person who failed in the yogurt industry isn't going to work for me," Glauser said.