Carvel Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Carvel is an ice-cream franchise known for its soft-serve, hand-dipped scoops, and signature ice-cream cakes. Franchisees run shops managing made-to-order treats, cake decorating, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Carvel franchise requires a total initial investment of $428K – $1.1M, including a $6K – $71K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $496K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $428K – $1.1M
- 74th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $496K
- 7th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 360
- 81st 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 avg · 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
- Total investment $428K – $1.1M including a $36K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $496K/year (median $470K).
- Verdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 59/100 (higher is better).
- No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Carvel Franchisor SPV LLC
- Parent company
- GoTo Foods Systems LLC
- Ultimate parent
- GoTo Foods LLC (formerly Focus Brands LLC)
- Predecessor
- Carvel LLC (formerly Carvel Corporation)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Omer Gajial
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 5620 Glenridge Drive NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30342
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $321.4M
- vs $308.9M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Omer Gajial
- Headquarters
- Georgia
- Founded
- 1934
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 23
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 16% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $36K | $36K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $33K | $50K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $360K | $966K |
| Total initial investment | $428K | $1.1M |
Source: Carvel 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $428K – $1.1M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $33K – $50K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $6K – $71K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $7K |
| Inventory (initial) | $5K – $17K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 55% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
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
$65K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
8%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
12.1 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $496K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $470K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical Net Sales quartile table (single-branded Streetside franchises)
- Sample size
- 104 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $84K→$1.5M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $249K→$780K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 485 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.7x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $496K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 10.1% CAGR over 3 years across 360 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 averages
How Carvel Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 360
- Opened
- 35
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 8
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 4
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.9%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +10.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +10.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 12
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 14
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 16
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 5.4%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Termination rate
- 1.5%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 1.5%
- Units that stopped operating
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 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 4 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 4
- Loan volume
- $679K
- Median loan
- $59K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- limited sample (4 loans) — rate not shown below 10
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
- 4
- 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
Carvel presents caution-level risk due to declining unit economics, absence of financial validation data, unprotected territory, and parent company litigation suggesting systemic operational issues.
Litigation (Item 3)
Two pending cases involving Carvel entities directly: Carvel Franchisor SPV, LLC v. Oluf Inc. and Stephen Oluf Winick (N.D. Ga., filed 2025) - Carvel sued a former franchisee for unauthorized post-termination operation and trademark infringement; and Oluf Inc. v. Carvel Corporation (Cal. Superior Court, filed 2025) - franchisee petition to compel arbitration over alleged misrepresentation and breach of contract claims. Additional disclosures relate to settled actions against sister GoTo Foods affiliates (Arby's, Dunkin' Brands, Jimmy John's), none alleging conduct by Carvel itself.
Largest disclosed settlement: $650,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ 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 59 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (3.1% YoY contraction indicates system shrinkage)
- 02MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure — cannot verify if $484K avg revenue translates to positive ROI after 6% royalty + operating costs
- 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other Carvel franchisees
- 04MINORParent company litigation history (no-poaching + data breach) suggests operational/compliance vulnerabilities affecting franchise ecosystem
- 05MEDHigh investment range ($392K-$786K) with no disclosed net income data creates profitability opacity
- 06MINOR20-year commitment is lengthy given brand's contracting footprint and uncertain profitability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% 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 | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 20 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | none |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 1 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 3 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 23 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 10 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Georgia (metropolitan area of franchisor's principal place of business) |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | Georgia |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Two pending cases involving Carvel entities directly: Carvel Franchisor SPV, LLC v. Oluf Inc. and Stephen Oluf Winick (N.D. Ga., filed 2025) - Carvel sued a former franchisee for unauthorized post-termination operation and trademark infringement; and Oluf Inc. v. Carvel Corporation (Cal. Superior Court, filed 2025) - franchisee petition to compel arbitration over alleged misrepresentation and breach of contract claims. Additional disclosures relate to settled actions against sister GoTo Foods affiliates (Arby's, Dunkin' Brands, Jimmy John's), none alleging conduct by Carvel itself.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 25 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 70 hrs
- Training location
- Online modules (classroom) and Certified Training Locations (on-the-job); corporate HQ in Atlanta, GA
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisor
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Designated POS System (vendor not named)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Designated POS System (vendor not named)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
97 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Carvel · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Carvel franchise?
The total investment to open a Carvel franchise ranges from $428K – $1.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $36K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Carvel franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Carvel FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $496K. The median is $470K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Carvel's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Carvel (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 Carvel franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Carvel has 360 total units in the United States, including 359 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 35 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Carvel a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Carvel as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 59 out of 100 (higher is better), 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Carvel, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.