PRODUCTS .webp?width=450&height=253&name=Ebook%20resource%20page%20images%20(4).webp)
INDUSTRIES 
RESOURCES 
About Yo-Chi
Yo-Chi is an Australian premium frozen yogurt and acai brand founded in 2012. It has experienced rapid expansion over the last five years, with more than 60 locations in Australia and internationally. Yo-Chi creates exceptional guest experiences through quality products, outstanding service and welcoming venues where communities can connect.
The challenge: rapid growth creating operational complexity
Yo-Chi has pursued an aggressive expansion strategy. Starting with just a handful of venues five years ago, the brand recen opened its 62nd domestic location in 2025 and launched its first international venue in Singapore.
This velocity of growth, while exciting, created several operational pain points.
- Inconsistent standards across locations
With the rapid rate of expansion, Yo-Chi noticed inconsistencies in operations across its venues. As each region adapted procedures to its needs, standards began to diverge. "It started off with one procedure document that was passed on to another region.
They added to that document and then they passed it on to another region, they added to it so it was a bit of an evolution of different standards throughout the region," explains Jake Patane, Yo-Chi's General Manager of Capability and Development. - Training challenges in high-turnover environment
Like many hospitality businesses, Yo-Chi faced constant onboarding needs due to staff turnover among casual team members, heightening the consistency challenge. "We're growing very rapidly and opening venues in various states and countries.
Naturally, each venue develops their own way of doing things and that obviously means that a guest experience can shift depending on where you are," says Natasha Minnaar, Yo-Chi's Learning and Development Specialist.
The training approach relied heavily on in-person instruction and paper-based checklists, leading to inconsistent learning experiences. "Every learning experience was slightly different based on who they were trained by," notes Jake. "Everyone that was training was training a little bit differently based on how they were taught." - Dispersed documentation and manual processes
Prior to implementing a centralised system, Yo-Chi's teams relied on SharePoint for document storage, paper-based audit checklists and manual training records. This created several problems:
- Teams didn't know which documents were most current
- Paper audits required manual follow-up on corrective actions
- Training completion tracking was unreliable
- Communication between head office and sites required multiple channels
- Limited visibility across the network
With manual processes and dispersed systems, leadership lacked real-time visibility into operational performance, training completion and compliance across the growing network.
The solution: phased implementation of Ideagen Procedure Management
Yo-Chi took a strategic, phased approach to implementing Ideagen Procedure Management.
Phase one: digital audits
The partnership began by digitising Yo-Chi's audit function. "We were taking it off the old paper and checklist audits that we would do throughout the region,” Jake explains. “So that's exactly how it started, just to do a bit more centralised auditing so everyone all around Australia could be audited to the same standard digitally."
Phase two: centralised work management
Once audits were successfully digitised, Yo-Chi expanded to the Work module for greater consistency. "We realised we needed to really make sure that we have one source of truth for all of our SOPs, our resources and content for every single region," says Jake. "Being able to power down those old ways of working and then power up something like [Ideagen Procedure Management] allowed us to really just centralise all the information, set the standard from the start and then make sure that everyone knows exactly where to go when they need to find that information."
Phase three: structured learning programs
The addition of the Learn module enabled Yo-Chi to create comprehensive, consistent training programs. "We're starting to build out our full learning ecosystem and we have different pathways if we have a new venue opening versus just a team member joining a venue," says Natasha.
The learning journey includes:
- In-person welcome and onboarding
- Digital onboarding venue checklists
- Online learning modules using SCORM packages
- Competency observations and assessments
- Progressive learning with quizzes and interactive elements
"The idea, using that Learn Central part of the platform, is just to get a bit more visual and interactive and standardise training for everyone," Natasha explains.
Integration across modules
All three modules work together to provide features that support Yo-Chi's needs. These features include:
- Multi-device accessibility: teams can access the platform on phones, tablets or computers, ensuring resources are available whenever and wherever needed
- Workflow automation: guides team members through training journeys step-by-step, ensuring consistency regardless of who conducts the training
- Real-time communication: through social timeline features for internal culture building, leadership boards and sharing audit results
- Comprehensive reporting: venue leaders can pull reports on module completions and track team progress, while head office maintains oversight across the entire network
"Our whole team is utilising pretty much almost every single function," Jake notes.
The results: consistency across the network
Operational consistency
Yo-Chi now maintains unified standards across their entire network. "We just have that one source of truth, which has made it a lot easier for us to refine the focus and make sure that everyone knows exactly what that standard is," Jake explains.
Natasha emphasises this impact. "Our teams receive the same message, the same standards. They have the same tools, documents, all accessible in one area and that becomes our new source of truth."
Consistency across training
The structured learning approach has significantly accelerated onboarding while improving quality and ensuring training consistency regardless of who delivers it. "We've been able to really structure exactly what that learning process should be with those connected workflows. There is a set process and a structure that they need to follow. They tick it off. What that does, it makes sure that all the training is consistent no matter who's doing the training because it's just right in front of them," notes Jake.
Natasha adds that structured tracking has been a game changer. “With structured training, we can actually see where our teams are in terms of their learning journey so we can help to coach in a bit more of a targeted way."
Streamlined new venue openings
Launching new locations has become dramatically more efficient. "It's almost just a copy and paste now because we've got the sites. We've got all the resources. We've got a structure of whenever we open up a new venue, the things that need to be printed that need to be posted out there when it comes to health and safety, the things that don't need to be," Jake notes.
The platform also accelerates training prior to a new venue opening. "We can plug that in and get the team to do a lot of their training and their policies before they even come to it, which then fast forwards that learning journey before we open up a new venue as well," he says.
Enhanced accountability and visibility
Digital audits with automated action tracking ensure nothing falls through the cracks. "As soon as you send that audit, you can set up in the back end who those results get sent to. You can set up some really strict parameters, whether they're passed or failed and corrective actions," Jake explains. "You can respond to those audits. You can make sure that those actions get ticked off in a timely manner as well."
The learning tracking provides similar visibility. "We can actually see where our teams are in terms of their learning journey," says Natasha. "We're able to track and not only just ensure that people are getting consistent training but also keeping our team accountable and at the forefront of maintaining standard services and our guest experience."
Time savings and efficiency gains
Moving from manual, paper-based processes to digital workflows has created significant time savings. Jake notes the efficiency improvements. "The person is following the step by step. Once they've ticked it off, you can be confident that they've covered all the information that they need to. They've not wasted any time because they're not too sure if they've missed anything because it's all right there in front of them."
Natasha highlights how online modules reduce in-venue training time. "They can go through that ahead of the time and then go in and just really focus on practically applying what they've learned into the venue."
Culture and engagement
Beyond compliance, the platform supports Yo-Chi's culture of engagement through communication features. "It helps to just foster quite a good little community and environment that's still keeping it formalised but also still fun at heart," Natasha shares.
Partnership and continuous improvement
Yo-Chi values the collaborative relationship with Ideagen. The partnership has enabled product improvements that benefit both organisations. "One standout feature was the quiz function... we put that through in the ideas board and that was actioned quite quickly and updated, which was really great."
Jake says he appreciates the relationship Yo-Chi has built with the team behind Ideagen Procedure Management. "Having open communication and responsive partners is incredibly important to us. It's something that's quite beneficial. We're enjoying the relationship that we have so far,” he says.
Looking forward
As Yo-Chi continues its growth trajectory, the operational foundation is set for sustainable expansion. "It's definitely increased our capability. That's probably the biggest one for us. It gives us just a lot more opportunity to trial different things and use different ways of connecting with our team," Jake reflects.
The brand plans to continue expanding both domestically and internationally in 2026 and beyond. "For a brand that's growing as quickly as we are, we can't just settle for old ways of learning and old ways of operating. Having something that increases our capability and then gives us the opportunity to really push the boundaries with how we interact and can drive our team to better standards with more consistency and to scale, has probably been the best addition of the platform so far," says Jake.
Want to learn more about Yo-Chi's expansion success?
Watch the free, on-demand webinar.
Ready to achieve operational consistency across your multi-site network?
Book an obligation-free demo to see how Ideagen Procedure Management can help your business scale with confidence.
Experience the transformation yourself
Discover how Ideagen can support your organisation’s compliance and risk management needs. Schedule a demo today to take the first step toward compliant, streamlined operations.