Candy Cloud
Formerly known as Cloud Kitchens
Bottom line
- Total investment $389K – $749K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $72K/year.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 49/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 24 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Candy Cloud unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
2%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Candy Cloud units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$115K
on $576K purchase
Total debt
$461K
SBA $0.3M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Candy Cloud is a specialty candy retail concept where franchisees operate small-format or kiosk-based stores selling premium candy, likely confections, and impulse-purchase sweets. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, point-of-sale transactions, merchandising displays, staff scheduling, and local marketing to drive foot traffic in mall, street-level, or high-traffic locations.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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 phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Candy Cloud presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to undisclosed profitability metrics, aggressive growth trajectory, high royalty burden relative to disclosed revenues, and an embryonic franchise system with minimal franchisee validation pool.
Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet Income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims or ROI timeline
- 02MINORHigh investment-to-revenue ratio: $389K-$749K initial investment vs. $71,973 average weekly revenue creates unclear payback period
- 03MINORExplosive unit growth of 140% YoY is unsustainable and suggests either aggressive recruiting or potential instability; needs validation of unit retention rates
- 04MINOR6% royalty on gross (not net) revenue is aggressive and reduces margins; at $71,973/week, this equals ~$22,491/month in royalties alone
- 05MED13-unit system is extremely small and immature; limited operational data, high failure risk, and insufficient franchisee base for validation
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
18 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Candy Cloud · FDD (2025) PDF