The Move
Lifeway Foods (Nasdaq: LWAY), the leading U.S. supplier of kefir and fermented probiotic dairy, is re-entering the commercial soft-serve segment by supplying its real-kefir base to frozen yogurt shops and restaurant concepts — a channel the Morton Grove, Ill.-based company last occupied before the pandemic shuttered its own retail café network in 2021.
The product is already active at froyo destinations including Drugstore, Mikono and Culture Club, with placements across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and additional cities. Lifeway is actively recruiting further foodservice partners capable of running commercial soft-serve machines.
Why It Matters
The move positions Lifeway squarely against conventional frozen yogurt mixes — most of which are powder-reconstituted — by leading with a liquid kefir base that the company says delivers 50 billion CFUs of live cultures alongside what it describes as high-quality bioavailable protein. That formulation argument is increasingly relevant to foodservice operators seeking menu claims that resonate with health-conscious consumers and, specifically, the growing cohort using GLP-1 weight-management medications who are prioritizing protein density.
"Many frozen yogurt mixes start as a powder. Ours starts with real kefir, bringing its signature tart, tangy flavor, high-quality bioavailable protein and 50 billion CFUs to the soft-serve machine," said Julie Smolyansky, President and CEO of Lifeway Foods. She framed the relaunch as a timely response to demand for "enjoyable foods made with real ingredients" and flagged the lactose-intolerance-friendly profile as an additional differentiator for operators.
Background and Outlook
Lifeway's foodservice soft-serve history stretches to 2008, when it opened Starfruit Café in Chicago — later rebranded as The Lifeway Kefir Shop — operating four retail locations and a mobile food truck for 13 years before the pandemic forced their closure. The company subsequently channeled the format into grocery retail through pint-format frozen kefir sold nationally, and has continued limited consumer touchpoints via pop-up events. This foodservice push effectively reconnects two distribution strategies — retail brand-building and on-premise sampling — by embedding the Lifeway product inside third-party operators' storefronts rather than company-owned units, reducing capital exposure while expanding reach.
For froyo and soft-serve operators, the pitch is a premium, differentiated SKU in a category where menu novelty and functional claims have driven traffic at the concept level. The better-for-you frozen dessert segment has drawn sustained operator interest as consumers trade away from ultra-processed snacks, and probiotic positioning aligns with broader functional dairy growth narratives that have lifted refrigerated kefir sales across retail channels. Lifeway, which has built 40 years of category leadership in drinkable kefir, is leveraging that supply-chain scale and brand credibility to compete for soft-serve machine placements without the overhead of a proprietary café network.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
