Bottom line
- Total investment $279K – $1.4M including a $30K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100.
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 Caribou Coffee unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
12%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Caribou Coffee units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$663K
on $3.3M purchase
Total debt
$2.7M
SBA $1.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Caribou Coffee franchisees operate coffee shop locations in Cabin, Chalet, or Kiosk formats, serving espresso drinks, specialty coffee, and food items. Day-to-day operations include staff management, inventory control, customer service, and maintaining brand standards across the location. Franchisees must also pay 5-6% royalties on gross sales while operating in a protected territory under a 10-year agreement.
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 · 13 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Caribou Coffee presents caution-level risk due to absent profitability disclosure, anemic growth rate, and uncertain unit economics across diverse formats.
Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — cannot verify profitability or ROI on $279K-$1.4M investment
- 02MEDSlow unit growth of 3.4% YoY suggests mature/saturated market with limited expansion momentum
- 03MEDHigh royalty rates (5-6%) combined with undisclosed net income creates uncertainty about actual franchisee margins
- 04MINORWide investment range ($279K-$1.4M) indicates highly variable unit economics depending on format; Kiosk profitability unclear
- 05MINOR487 units is relatively small footprint for national brand; vulnerable to regional economic shocks
- 06MINORAverage revenue of $1.1M with unknown net income suggests potential thin margins in competitive coffee category
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Caribou Coffee · FDD (2025) PDF