FranchiseVerdict
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FV-00444·CAUTIONStandard67

CaliFries

Food & Beverage - Juice & SmoothiesFranchising since 2025Website
Investment
$156K – $252K
19th pct Juice & Smoot…
Avg revenue
38th pct Juice & Smoot…
Royalty
Units
0
0th pct Juice & Smoot…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $156K – $252K including a $38K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Cali Fries Franchise, Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
3018 #B Alvarado Street, San Leandro, California 94577
Auditor
Kezos & Dunlavy
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $0 prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one CaliFries unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $156K–$252K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

34%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$75K
EBITDA margin
10.0%
Total invested
$224K
Payback
36 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

CaliFries franchisees operate fast-casual fry restaurants or kiosks, likely focused on specialty potato-based products with potential complementary items. Day-to-day operations involve inventory management, food preparation, point-of-sale transactions, staff supervision, and customer service in a high-volume retail environment.

CEO
James Zeng
Founded
2024
FDD year
2025
States available
0

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$156K – $252K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$38K
Royalty
$600 Monthly
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
2.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
0
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
2023
0±0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

CaliFries presents extreme risk: zero operating units, missing financial disclosures, going concern warning, and weak unit economics suggest a pre-revenue or failing franchise system.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORZero operating units despite established franchise model—suggests system collapse, failed rollout, or severely understated opportunity
  2. 02MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed (missing Item 19)—impossible to validate ROI on $156K–$251K investment
  3. 03HIGHGoing concern status is FALSE—indicates material doubt about franchisor's financial viability or ability to support franchisees
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory with only 3-year term—high cannibalization risk and vulnerability to franchisor opening competing units
  5. 05MINORLow $600/month royalty relative to $38K franchise fee suggests unsustainable unit economics or franchisor cash flow crisis
  6. 06MINORUnknown growth trajectory with zero franchises operating—no proof of concept, replicable model, or franchisee success

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Population or Radius
Protected territory
No
Initial term
3 years
Renewal term
3 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
No
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
3 hrs
On-the-job training
54 hrs
POS system
Windows XP PRO or Windows 7 Professional PC system
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

6 numbers

Locked
(202) 326-••••
DC
(213) 897-••••
CA
(415) 972-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

CaliFries · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above