Caribou CoffeeFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Caribou Coffee franchise requires a total initial investment of $279K – $1.4M, including a $30K franchise fee. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $279K – $1.4M
- 54th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- 36th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 487
- 88th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- Total investment $279K – $1.4M including a $30K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 21/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Caribou Coffee Development Company, Inc.
- Parent company
- Caribou Coffee Company, Inc.
- CEO title
- Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
- Scott Kennedy
- Incorporated in
- MN
- HQ
- 3900 Lakebreeze Avenue N., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55429
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $969.7M
- vs $1.1B prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- Caribou Coffee Operating Company
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
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.
- CEO
- Scott Kennedy
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 1992
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 19
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $30K | $30K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $17K | $110K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $232K | $1.3M |
| Total initial investment | $279K | $1.4M |
Source: Caribou Coffee 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$155K
14.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.9 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $279K – $1.4M
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $17K – $110K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $7K – $30K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- Cabin and Chalet: 5% of Gross Sales; Kiosk: 6% of Gross S…
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $1K |
| Transfer fee | $15K |
| Renewal fee | $15K |
| Inventory (initial) | $10K – $20K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.1M
- Item 19 type
- Historical
- Sample size
- 307 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $339K→$2.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 7 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Caribou Coffee Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 487
- Opened
- 14
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 4
- Terminated
- 3
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 1
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.8%
- Company-owned
- 335
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 31%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +3.4%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +4.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 8
- Transfer rate
- 1.6%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 0.8%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 1.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 19 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Minnesota
- Washington
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
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
- $3.3M
- Median loan
- $1.7M
- average
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 0
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
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.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton 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: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 21 / 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
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Area surrounding the location |
| 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 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Minnesota |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 8 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 72 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
155 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Caribou Coffee · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Caribou Coffee franchise?
The total investment to open a Caribou Coffee franchise ranges from $279K – $1.4M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Caribou Coffee franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Caribou Coffee FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.1M. The median is $1.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Caribou Coffee's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Caribou Coffee (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 Caribou Coffee franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Caribou Coffee has 487 total units in the United States, including 335 franchised units and 335 company-owned units. 14 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Caribou Coffee a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Caribou Coffee as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 21 out of 100, 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.