Apple Spice®Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A APPLE SPICE® franchise requires a total initial investment of $393K – $572K, including a $49K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $885K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 24.1% charge-off rate across 46 loans[1]. Verdict grade: C. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $393K – $572K
- 72nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $885K
- 29th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 32
- 55th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 24.1%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
24.1% of SBA loans charged off across 46 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchised units fell from 32 to 31 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $393K – $572K including a $49K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $885K/year (median $727K).
- Verdict C (Average) with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 24.1% across 46 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Café & Bakery Group, LLC
- Parent company
- BLD Co., LLC
- CEO title
- Manager and CEO
- Randy Clegg
- CEO experience
- 2011 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- UT
- HQ
- 2250 South 1300 West, Suite A, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119
- Auditor
- Anderson Bradshaw PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $2.2M
- vs $2.5M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
Apple Spice franchisees operate what appears to be a food service, beverage, or specialty retail location (likely apple-based products, ciders, or spice-themed goods). Day-to-day operations involve inventory management, customer service, point-of-sale transactions, and maintaining brand standards across a small 32-unit system.
- CEO
- Randy Clegg
- Headquarters
- UT
- Founded
- 2011
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 17
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $49K | $125K | |
| Training & Living Expenses while training | $5K | $8K | |
| Training Fee | $10K | $10K | |
| Real Estate Lease Deposit | $2K | $7K | |
| Real Estate Improvements | $76K | $335K | |
| Equipment Package | $150K | $170K | |
| Freight (equipment/POS/Opening Inventory) | $1K | $9K | |
| Shelving/Office furniture | $1K | $3K | |
| POS System (hardware/software/install)not refundable | $19K | $19K | |
| Signage - Interior/exterior (install) | $1K | $5K | |
| Misc. Expenses & Professional Fees | $3K | $10K | |
| Opening Inventory - Sysco & Sam's Club | $9K | $14K | |
| Opening Inventory - SLC Warehouse | $6K | $8K | |
| Initial Marketing - Food give-away promo - 90 days | $9K | $9K | |
| Initial Marketing - SEO/Social Media Marketing | $1K | $1K | |
| Initial Marketing - Grand Opening | $7K | $7K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 months | $45K | $70K | |
| Total initial investment | $393K | $810K |
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.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$133K
15.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
25%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $393K – $572K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $45K – $70K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $49K – $49K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage_of_gross · 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% of gross sales |
| Training fee | $10K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $885K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $727K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 31 units
- vs category median 28
- Range (low → high)
- $78K→$2.4M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Apple Spice® Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 32
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.1%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -3.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 6
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 3.1%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 17 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 46
- Loan volume
- $13.1M
- Median loan
- $285K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 24.1%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- 20.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 21
- Defaults
- 7
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
A 24.1% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 4 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Apple Spice presents HIGH RISK due to going concern status, non-disclosed profitability, stagnant unit growth, unprotected territory, and absence of validated financial performance data.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Anderson Bradshaw PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates franchisor financial distress or viability questions
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed despite $884K average revenue — suggests poor profitability or data withholding
- 03MINOROnly 32 units with unknown growth trajectory — system appears stagnant or contracting
- 04MINORNo protected territory — franchisees face internal brand cannibalization and competition
- 05MEDHigh initial investment ($393K-$571K) with 6% royalty against undisclosed profit margins
- 06MINORItem 19 financial performance data absent — inability to validate ROI claims
- 07MINOR10-year term locks capital with unclear exit or resale market for only 32-unit system
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Zip Codes |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Utah |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 0 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 81 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
17 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
APPLE SPICE® · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a APPLE SPICE® franchise?
The total investment to open a APPLE SPICE® franchise ranges from $393K – $572K, with an initial franchise fee of $49K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do APPLE SPICE® franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the APPLE SPICE® FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $885K. The median is $727K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is APPLE SPICE®'s franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, APPLE SPICE® has a charge-off rate of 24.1% across 46 loans, meaning 24.1% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many APPLE SPICE® franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, APPLE SPICE® has 32 total units in the United States, including 32 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is APPLE SPICE® a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates APPLE SPICE® as a C-grade franchise with a risk score of 64 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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 APPLE SPICE®, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Claim this brandOther Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Quick-Service Restaurants category
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.