Black Rifle Coffee Company Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $1.6M – $3.3M
- Disclosed sales
- not disclosed
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (2)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Black Rifle Coffee Company is a coffee franchise serving specialty drinks and selling its veteran-founded roasted coffee and branded merchandise. Franchisees run the outposts, managing baristas, retail, and community events.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Black Rifle Coffee Company franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.6M – $3.3M, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: 2025 filing · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - a newer filing may exist
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 scored4 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $1.6M – $3.3M
- 98th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 37
- 60th 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 $1.6M – $3.3M including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSThis franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 54/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +2 franchised outlets in the latest year (4 opened, 2 closed); 1 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
- GROWTHSystem growing at 81.8% CAGR over 3 years with 37 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Black Rifle Coffee Company LLC
- Parent company
- Good Beans LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 6 of the 2025 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- BRC Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 6 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer & Director
- Christopher Mondzelewski
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1144 South 500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
- Auditor
- Ernst & Young LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $391.5M
- vs $391.5M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Christopher Mondzelewski
- Headquarters
- UT
- Founded
- 2017
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 10
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 407% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Lease | $24K | $55K | |
| Utility Deposit | $750 | $2K | |
| Architect Fees | $50K | $130K | |
| Construction Costs | $650K | $1.7M | |
| Expenses for Initial Training | $40K | $60K | |
| Business Licenses and Permits | $5K | $10K | |
| Business Insurance | $10K | $15K | |
| Initial Inventory | $60K | $120K | |
| IT, Computer Hardware & Software, Drive-Thru Technologies | $120K | $125K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, & Equipment | $400K | $495K | |
| Signage | $80K | $165K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing Program | $15K | $20K | |
| Professional Fees | $10K | $20K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $100K | $350K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.6M | $3.3M |
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
- $1.6M – $3.3M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $100K – $350K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $35K – $35K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $18K |
| Inventory (initial) | $60K – $120K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Black Rifle Coffee Company makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Black Rifle Coffee Company 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 annual revenue, 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.
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
No financial performance representation
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 10.0% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.5%.
Disclosure
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator retention
System expanding at 81.8% CAGR over 3 years across 37 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 Black Rifle Coffee Company 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
- 37
- Opened
- 4
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 2
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 5.4%
- Company-owned
- 17
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 54%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +81.8%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +81.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 1
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 1
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 1
- 0.03 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 1
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 2.7%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 2.7%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 5.4%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 7 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
14 current owners across 7 states.
- GA 4
- UT 3
- FL 2
- SC 2
- CA 1
- OH 1
- TX 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.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 2 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 2
- Loan volume
- $1.3M
- Median loan
- $649K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (2)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 2 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (2)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (2)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 2
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
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
High capital requirement, undisclosed unit economics, multiple active disputes, and modest unit growth create significant risk without access to proven franchisee performance data.
Why this reads harsher than the B grade: the grade weighs financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency across the whole filing, while this summary lists individual flags without that weighting. The flags are worth checking with current owners; neither is investment advice.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (defendant).
Tang Capital Partners breach of contract re: warrant agreement (pending trial July 2025); 1791 Management LP fraud/breach claims (dismissed); Strategy and Execution Inc. breach of contract (settled $400K in Jan 2025); Clark et al. breach of contract re: warrant agreement (stayed)
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Ernst & Young LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Total revenue of $391,489,933.32 is BRC Inc. consolidated (ultimate parent, NYSE: BRCC) for fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, per Item 8. Audited Item 21 statements (Exhibit F-1) are BRC Inc. consolidated; the franchisor Black Rifle Coffee Company LLC does not issue separate audited statements. Balance-sheet line items in the audited exhibit were not machine-readable in the source text (obfuscated encoding).
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
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 54 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNo average unit volume (Item 19) disclosure prevents ROI validation against $1.6M-$3.3M investment
- 02HIGHMultiple active litigation cases including royalty disputes with Strategy and Execution, Inc. suggest operational/payment conflicts
- 03MINORSlow unit growth (11.1% YoY on 37 units = ~4 net new franchises annually) indicates market saturation or franchisee struggles
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($1.6M-$3.3M) with 6% royalty creates aggressive break-even threshold requiring $27K-$55K monthly revenue
- 05HIGHLitigation involving warrant agreements and Tang Capital Partners suggests corporate governance instability and potential founder/investor conflicts
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 10.0% 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 | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | UT |
| Litigation count | 4 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Tang Capital Partners breach of contract re: warrant agreement (pending trial July 2025); 1791 Management LP fraud/breach claims (dismissed); Strategy and Execution Inc. breach of contract (settled $400K in Jan 2025); Clark et al. breach of contract re: warrant agreement (stayed)
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 58 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 134 hrs
- Training location
- Select Corporate Stores (typically Texas or Tennessee)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee proposes, franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- NCR ALOHA
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: NCR ALOHA
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
14 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 Black Rifle Coffee Company franchise?
The total investment to open a Black Rifle Coffee Company franchise ranges from $1.6M – $3.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Black Rifle Coffee Company franchise owners earn?
Black Rifle Coffee Company makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Black Rifle Coffee Company?
Black Rifle Coffee Company is franchised by Black Rifle Coffee Company LLC. Its parent company is Good Beans LLC. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is BRC Inc.. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Black Rifle Coffee Company 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 Black Rifle Coffee Company FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Black Rifle Coffee Company's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Black Rifle Coffee Company (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 Black Rifle Coffee Company franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Black Rifle Coffee Company has 37 total units in the United States, including 20 franchised units and 17 company-owned units. 4 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Black Rifle Coffee Company a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Black Rifle Coffee Company as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 54 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
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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.