Always Ice Cream Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $249K – $513K
- Disclosed sales
- $667K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Always Ice Cream is a dessert franchise serving scooped ice cream, shakes, and frozen treats. Franchisees run the shops, managing product inventory, staffing, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Always Ice Cream franchise requires a total initial investment of $249K – $513K, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $667K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Limited operating history: franchising since 2024. A system this young has fewer than three years of Item 20 outlet history and rarely enough SBA loans for a charge-off rate, so its grade rests on less evidence than an established system's. Read its Item 20 tables and talk to its first franchisees before relying on the grade. Other new franchisors
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored7 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $249K – $513K
- 36th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $667K
- Company-owned onlyNet sales
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 5
- 23rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $249K – $513K including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $667K/year (median $656K) (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance).
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 45/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHFlat: no net change in franchised outlets in the latest year (0 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- EARLYEmerging franchise: only 2 years of franchising with 5 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Always Ice Cream Systems, LLC
- Parent company
- Always Ice Cream Company, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 7 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- Manager
- Ross Cohen
- Incorporated in
- MD
- HQ
- 129A Mitchells Chance Road, Edgewater, Maryland 21037
- Auditor
- Platform CPAs, LLP
- Audited financials
Affiliated brands
- Always Ice Cream Company
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Ross Cohen
- Headquarters
- MD
- Founded
- 2024
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 1
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 22% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown13 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $30K | $30K | |
| Advance Advertising and Promotion Costs | $2K | $2K | |
| Equipment and Supplies | $100K | $150K | |
| Opening Inventory | $20K | $30K | |
| First Month's Rent | $3K | $10K | |
| Signs | $20K | $30K | |
| Lease Deposits | $2K | $10K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $50K | $200K | |
| Miscellaneous Start-Up Costs | $5K | $10K | |
| Utility Deposits | $0 | $4K | |
| Impact fees and permits | $2K | $10K | |
| Insurance | $1K | $10K | |
| Additional Funds- 3 months | $15K | $25K | |
| Total initial investment | $249K | $520K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $249K – $513K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Inventory (initial) | $20K – $30K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 32% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Reported as net sales, not gross sales
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Always Ice Cream until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$401K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Always Ice Cream unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Reported as net sales, not gross sales
- Avg gross sales
- $667K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $656K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- company store financials
- Sample size
- 4 outlets
- vs category median 19 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $580K→$776KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 49 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 781 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $667K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.8x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 6/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence. Sample size of 4 outlets — treat as directional only.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Always Ice Cream Compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 5
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 5
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 4
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 1 state reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
1
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
1 current owner across 1 state.
- MD 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Early-stage ice cream franchise with minimal unit count, unclear growth data, and unverified financial claims presents moderate-to-cautionary risk despite no litigation and protected territory.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
0 case reference(s): 3 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Platform CPAs, LLP
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 45 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 5 units operating with unknown growth trajectory suggests early-stage system with unproven scalability
- 02MINORWide investment range ($248,625–$600,000) indicates inconsistent unit economics or undefined build-out standards
- 03MINOR6% royalty on $666,902 average revenue yields only ~$40,000 annually — thin franchisor margins may limit support infrastructure
- 04MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years), creating renewal uncertainty and reducing franchisee equity accumulation
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 5 |
| Territory type | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 1 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 15 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | N/A - no arbitration, litigation only in Maryland |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | MD |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 3 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 56 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 62 hrs
- Training location
- Always Ice Cream corporate office and retail location in Edgewater, Maryland
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 62 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 1 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee with franchisor assistance and approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Toast
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Always Ice Cream franchise?
The total investment to open a Always Ice Cream franchise ranges from $249K – $513K, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Always Ice Cream franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Always Ice Cream FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $667K. The median is $656K. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance; Reported as net sales, not gross sales. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Always Ice Cream?
Always Ice Cream is franchised by Always Ice Cream Systems, LLC. Its parent company is Always Ice Cream Company, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Always Ice Cream FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Always Ice Cream FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Always Ice Cream's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Always Ice Cream (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Always Ice Cream franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Always Ice Cream has 5 total units in the United States.
Is Always Ice Cream a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Always Ice Cream as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 45 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Always Ice Cream, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.