Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $462K – $679K
- Disclosed sales
- $658K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (7)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream is a dessert franchise that freezes custom ice cream to order with liquid nitrogen. Franchisees run the shops, managing made-to-order prep, staffing, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream franchise requires a total initial investment of $462K – $679K, including a $39K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2022 FDD, average unit revenue was $658K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: 2022 filing · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - figures are from a filing two or more years old
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $462K – $679K
- 72nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $658K
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 5
- 23rd 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 median · 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
- COSTTotal investment $462K – $679K including a $39K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $658K/year (median $643K) (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance). Note: this is gross profit, not take-home income.
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 35/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative, pipeline stalled: 8 agreements signed but not yet open against 5 open outlets (Item 20).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream Franchising, LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- David Leonardo
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 3051 NW 75th Avenue, Miami, FL 33122
- Auditor
- DJJCPA, LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $377K
- vs $130K prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- David Leonardo
- Headquarters
- FL
- Founded
- 2018
- FDD year
- 2022
- States available
- 1
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 18% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2022 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2022 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $39K | $39K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $15K | $40K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $408K | $600K |
| Total initial investment | $462K | $679K |
Source: Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream 2022 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
- $462K – $679K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $40K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $39K – $39K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $150 |
| Transfer fee | $0 |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| Inventory (initial) | $8K – $9K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 33% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Source: FDD 2022 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$598K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2022 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Avg gross sales
- $658K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $643K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- affiliate owned stores
- Sample size
- 4 outlets
- vs category median 19 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $561K→$785KCited, not corroborated — printed on page 50 of the 2022 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2021
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2022
- Disclosed in the 2022 filing, covering 2021
- Transparency
- 9 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 781 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
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 $658K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.2x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 9/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence. Sample size of 4 outlets — treat as directional only.
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 medians
How Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream Compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2022 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 5
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 5
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 8
- 1.60 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
9 current owners across 4 states.
- FL 4
- TX 3
- CO 1
- TN 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 7 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 7
- Loan volume
- $1.3M
- Median loan
- $91K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (7)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 7 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (7)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (7)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 1
- 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
Micro-franchise system with unproven unit economics, missing financial disclosures, and franchisor stability concerns outweigh the protected territory advantage.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · DJJCPA, LLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Concentrations: For FY2021, one franchisee related by ownership represented 50.3% of total revenue and 100% of opened franchises (100% in FY2020). 100% of franchise operations in Florida. Other income of $192,689 in 2021 includes PPP debt forgiveness ($151,938) and employee retention tax credit ($40,481). Net loss of ($47,661) before these items would have been a net operating loss of ($240,350).
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 35 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 5 units in system with unknown growth trajectory indicates minimal scale and market validation
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($462k-$679k) paired with only 5 existing units creates validation risk
- 03MINOR16.4% net margin (108,697/657,949) is thin for food service and may not sustain royalties, labor costs, and rent
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2022 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Territory population | 40,000 |
| 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 | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 15 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Miami, FL (mediation then litigation) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | FL |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 18 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 30 hrs
- Training location
- Miami, Florida (or another location designated by franchisor)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 30 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects site with franchisor approval; franchisor provides prototype layout and construction management
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Designated vendor POS (iPad-based with kiosks)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Designated vendor POS (iPad-based with kiosks)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
9 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream franchise?
The total investment to open a Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream franchise ranges from $462K – $679K, with an initial franchise fee of $39K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $658K. The median is $643K. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream?
Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream is franchised by Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream Franchising, LLC. The FDD names no parent company. Source: FDD Item 1, 2022 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream (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 Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream has 5 total units in the United States.
Is Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 35 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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.