Gorging on healthful types of ice cream

Andre said the markets in China for ice cream and healthier alternatives have each been expanding and trending upward, emphasizing the promise of frozen yogurt specifically.

"A trend has been that the ice cream industry is trying to get health-friendly, with low calories and low-carb options, but it is playing catch-up to frozen yogurt," Andre said. "Besides health concerns, two more innovations in the frozen yogurt industry - on-site consumption and the ability to add your own flavors and toppings - may give it a slight advantage in growing popularity, but both markets are growing relatively nicely."

Andre credits those innovations to frozen yogurt's marginally greater success than ice cream in spreading health consciousness among consumers. Furthermore, he suggested a greater variety of local brands and thus competition in the ice cream market has made it difficult for more traditional Western brands to capture the market.

One foreign frozen yogurt brand that has found success in China is the California-based Menchie's. In its 14 years operating in China, it has expanded to five stores and without detailing specifics, said Frank Fan, director of operations of Menchie's China. The brand is planning an expansion in China, he said.

Fan further said Menchie's success is due to its specially designed special flavors such as durian and matcha that appeal to Chinese consumers, along with the ability to dine-in after purchasing ?? la carte a personalized assortment of toppings.

"I'm very optimistic about frozen yogurt in China," Fan said. "For now, fro-yo is not a popular product, but more and more brands are targeting the Chinese market."

Although China is now the largest ice cream market in the world, there is much catching up to do on a per-person basis compared to its Western counterparts, giving firms like Menchie's even more hope for expansion.

Andre said besides 4 liters of ice cream, a Chinese consumer savors 4 to 5 liters of frozen yogurt on average annually. That is still four times less than the corresponding figures in the United States.

According to Mintel, although China overtook the US as the world's largest ice cream consumer, the latter with far fewer people still managed to consume 5.8 billion liters - just 1 million liters less than China last year.

Ni Yuchen and Wyatt Bush contributed to this story.