FranchiseVerdict
Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters logo
FV-00528·MODERATEExcellent86

Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters

Food & Beverage - Coffee & TeaFranchising since 2023Website
Investment
$244K – $436K
38th pct Coffee & Tea
Avg revenue
$737K
17th pct Coffee & Tea
Royalty
6.0%
50th pct Coffee & Tea
Units
3
21st pct Coffee & Tea
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $244K – $436K including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $737K/year.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.
  • Emerging franchise — only 3 years of franchising with 3 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Chocolate Fish Franchising, LLC
Incorporated in
Wyoming
HQ
4749 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95819
Auditor
Omar Alnuaimi, CPA
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $0 prior year

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 Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $737,083
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $244K–$436K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

21%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$81K
EBITDA margin
11.0%
Total invested
$385K
Payback
57 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$590K

on $2.9M purchase

Total debt

$2.4M

SBA $1.5M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate specialty coffee roasting retail locations, managing daily customer service, espresso/beverage preparation, packaged coffee sales, and potentially light food service. Operations involve inventory management of roasted beans, equipment maintenance, and staff oversight in a café-style setting.

CEO
Ali Syed
Founded
2023
FDD year
2024
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$244K – $436K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$737K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Company-Owned
Sample size
3 units
vs category median 13 · small
Range (low → high)
$532K$851K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
3 / 5
vs category median 2 / 5 · above
Revenue rank17th
vs Food & Beverage - Coffee & Tea peers
Investment cost rank38th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank50th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank21th
vs Food & Beverage - Coffee & Tea peers
Risk score rank45th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
3
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2022
0±0
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 15 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 15 states
Not registered

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

63
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE63 / 100

Early-stage micro-franchise with undisclosed profitability, franchisor going concern issues, and insufficient operating history to validate ROI.

Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 3 units system-wide indicates minimal scale, unproven model, and high risk of franchisor viability
  2. 02MEDNo disclosed net income data prevents ROI validation; $737K average revenue doesn't confirm profitability at unit level
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests potential franchisor financial distress or uncertainty about business continuation
  4. 04MINOR6% royalty on unproven revenue model combined with $244K-$436K investment creates unclear payback timeline
  5. 05MEDExtremely limited franchisee pool (3 units) means minimal validation data and survivor bias in references

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Population-based radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Wyoming

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
33 hrs
On-the-job training
29 hrs
POS system
POS/CRM system for Restaurants
Operating tech stack

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

15 numbers

Locked
(701) 328-••••
ND
(360) 902-••••
WA
(804) 371-••••
VA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above