Baskin-Robbins Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Baskin-Robbins is an ice-cream franchise famous for its rotating 31 flavors, scoops, and ice-cream cakes. Franchisees run shops, including standalone, non-traditional, and Dunkin' combo locations, managing service and frozen-product sales.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Baskin-Robbins franchise requires a total initial investment of $307K – $627K, including a $6K – $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.9% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $527K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 16.2% charge-off rate across 672 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $307K – $627K
- 51st pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $527K
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 5.9%
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 967
- 92nd pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 16.2%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants avg · 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 $307K – $627K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.9% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $527K/year (median $503K).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 56/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 16.2% across 672 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- TERMSNo 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
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Baskin-Robbins Franchising LLC
- Parent company
- Dunkin' Brands, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- Inspire Brands, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer, Inspire Brands
- Paul Brown
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- Three Glenlake Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia 30328
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $98.8M
- vs $93.3M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Paul Brown
- Headquarters
- Georgia
- Founded
- 1946
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 41
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 29% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown12 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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $307K – $627K
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $0 – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $6K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.9%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 5.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 0.1%
- 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 |
| Inventory (initial) | $5K – $8K |
| Total fee load | 0.1% of rev |
A 0.1% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 56% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
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
$58K
11.1% margin
Unlevered ROIC
12%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.2 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
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. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Baskin-Robbins unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
12%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
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%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Baskin-Robbins units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$432K
on $2.2M purchase
Total debt
$1.7M
SBA $1.1M + senior + seller note
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: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $527K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $503K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical AUV by quartile
- Sample size
- 814
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $16K→$2.3M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $264K→$833K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 782 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 $527K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.1x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 0.1% — below the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (-1.1% 3-year CAGR) with 967 units.
Multi-unit rate
Only 5% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
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 averages
How Baskin-Robbins Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 967
- 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 (3-yr)
- -1.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -1.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 33
- Closed (3yr)
- 21
- Terminated (3yr)
- 3
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 11
- Transfers (3yr)
- 39
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- 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
- Typical loan rate
- 7.2%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 21.5%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 5,108
- 4.8 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 8%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 47% went to startups / new businesses, 53% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in limited-service restaurants, franchised businesses charge off at 21.5% vs 25.0% for independents — franchising is associated with 14% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Baskin-Robbins charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Baskin-Robbins franchisees
Showing 3 of 173 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
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.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans here charge off near the 16.0% national average.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
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)
One pending franchisee dispute (Shree Krishna Donuts) and several concluded matters including a former-franchisee civil rights suit (Shetty, settled by insurer), a multi-state AG no-poaching settlement, a NY AG data-security settlement ($650,000), a terminated-franchisee dispute (Ram Donuts, settled for $110,000), plus two affiliated-program (ARG, JJF) regulatory settlements not alleging misconduct by Baskin-Robbins itself.
Largest disclosed settlement: $650,000
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: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 verdict
- 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
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 0.1% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | none |
| 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 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Georgia |
| Litigation count | 7 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
One pending franchisee dispute (Shree Krishna Donuts) and several concluded matters including a former-franchisee civil rights suit (Shetty, settled by insurer), a multi-state AG no-poaching settlement, a NY AG data-security settlement ($650,000), a terminated-franchisee dispute (Ram Donuts, settled for $110,000), plus two affiliated-program (ARG, JJF) regulatory settlements not alleging misconduct by Baskin-Robbins itself.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 30 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 80 hrs
- Training location
- Certified Training location or another Baskin-Robbins Restaurant designated by franchisor
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 15 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Simphony POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Simphony POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
2,223 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Baskin-Robbins · FDD (2026) 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 – $627K, 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 $527K. The median is $503K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Baskin-Robbins 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 Baskin-Robbins FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
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 967 total units in the United States, including 967 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 verdict score of 56 out of 100 (higher is better), 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
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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.