Baskin-RobbinsFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Baskin-Robbins franchise requires a total initial investment of $307K – $623K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.9% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $533K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 16.2% charge-off rate across 672 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $307K – $623K
- 60th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $533K
- 10th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.9%
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 976
- 93rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 16.2%
- 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
Franchising since 1948. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
19 legal cases disclosed in the FDD. Read Item 3 before signing.
Bottom line
- Total investment $307K – $623K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.9% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $533K/year (median $521K).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 16.2% across 672 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- 19 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3, higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Baskin-Robbins Franchising LLC
- Parent company
- Inspire Brands, Inc.
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- Three Glenlake Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia 30328
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.6B
- vs $1.6B prior year
Overview
About
Franchisees operate ice cream retail locations focusing on scooped ice cream, frozen treats, and beverage sales. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, staff scheduling, customer service, equipment maintenance, and local marketing while adhering to Baskin-Robbins' operational standards and product specifications.
- CEO
- Paul Brown
- Headquarters
- GA
- Founded
- 1946
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 41
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $25K | $25K | |
| Real Estate Development | $123K | $267K | |
| Equipment, Fixtures and Signs | $115K | $185K | |
| Restaurant Technology System | $15K | $30K | |
| Licenses, Permits, Fees and Deposits | $7K | $20K | |
| Opening Inventory | $5K | $8K | |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $10K | $28K | |
| Uniforms | $400 | $800 | |
| Insurance | $4K | $8K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses While Training | $1K | $15K | |
| Marketing Start-Up Fee | $3K | $6K | |
| Additional Funds for First 3 Months of Operation | $0 | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $307K | $623K |
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
$59K
11.1% margin
Unlevered ROIC
12%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $307K – $623K
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.9%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 5.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.9%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.9% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $8K |
| Total fee load | 10.9% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $533K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $521K
- Item 19 type
- Historical
- Sample size
- 844 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $12K→$2.3M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $267K→$822K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Baskin-Robbins Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 976
- Opened
- 33
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 35
- Terminated
- 3
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 11
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.6%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 5.0%
- Net growth (yr3)
- -0.2%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -2.5%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 39
- Transfer rate
- 4.0%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 96.5%
- Units that stayed open
- Termination rate
- 1.4%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 2.2%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 45 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
- 672
- Loan volume
- $131.5M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 16.2%
- 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)
- 83.9%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 10.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 173
- Defaults
- 82
Vintage analysis
Baskin-Robbins charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Baskin-Robbins's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 35-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Baskin-Robbins presents high risk due to system contraction, extensive litigation history, missing profitability data, and unprotected territories in a mature, declining ice cream category.
Litigation (Item 3)
Pending: 1 case (Fahrad Salari Lak et al. v. Dunkin' Donuts Franchising LLC - promissory estoppel and fraud claims regarding bakery supply agreement in Pittsburgh market; summary judgment granted on lost profits damages). Concluded: 1 case (32 Quebec Dunkin' franchisees class action filed May 20, 2003). Franchisor as Plaintiff (Last Fiscal Year): 3 breach of contract and trademark infringement cases against franchisees - (1) Baskin-Robbins v. Blu Moo Ice Cream Inc. (Feb 2024), (2) Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin' v. Alamo Donuts LLC (July 2024), (3) Baskin-Robbins v. Dgarza Enterprises LLC (Oct 2024).
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-0.2% YoY) indicates system contraction despite mature brand recognition
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosure prevents ROI validation; with $307k-$622k investment and $532k avg revenue, actual profitability is opaque
- 03HIGH18 active/recent litigation cases including franchisor-initiated breach of contract claims against franchisees signal operational/relationship tensions
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct cannibalization risk and competitive pressure within same market
- 05MINOR5.9% royalty on $532k avg revenue = ~$31k annual royalty obligation with unknown net income makes breakeven analysis impossible
- 06MINOR20-year term locks capital into declining system with no performance guarantees
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 | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Georgia |
| Litigation count | 19 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Pending: 1 case (Fahrad Salari Lak et al. v. Dunkin' Donuts Franchising LLC - promissory estoppel and fraud claims regarding bakery supply agreement in Pittsburgh market; summary judgment granted on lost profits damages). Concluded: 1 case (32 Quebec Dunkin' franchisees class action filed May 20, 2003). Franchisor as Plaintiff (Last Fiscal Year): 3 breach of contract and trademark infringement cases against franchisees - (1) Baskin-Robbins v. Blu Moo Ice Cream Inc. (Feb 2024), (2) Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin' v. Alamo Donuts LLC (July 2024), (3) Baskin-Robbins v. Dgarza Enterprises LLC (Oct 2024).
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 30 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 80 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- Simphony POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Simphony POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
2,224 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Baskin-Robbins · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Baskin-Robbins franchise?
The total investment to open a Baskin-Robbins franchise ranges from $307K – $623K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Baskin-Robbins franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Baskin-Robbins FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $533K. The median is $521K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Baskin-Robbins's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Baskin-Robbins has a charge-off rate of 16.2% across 672 loans, meaning 16.2% 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 Baskin-Robbins franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Baskin-Robbins has 976 total units in the United States, including 976 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 33 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Baskin-Robbins a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Baskin-Robbins as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 55 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.
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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.