FranchiseVerdict
CHOP5 Salad Kitchen logo
FV-00529·MODERATEExcellent86

CHOP5 Salad Kitchen

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2019Website
Investment
$536K – $996K
69th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.8M
39th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
3
16th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $536K – $996K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.8M/year. Estimated payback in 1.4 years.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 23 loans (below the industry average).
  • 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

Legal entity
CHOP5 Franchise LLC
Parent company
Chop5, LLC
Incorporated in
Kentucky
HQ
6011 Brownsboro Park Blvd., Suite F, Louisville, Kentucky 40207
Auditor
REESE CPA LLC
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 CHOP5 Salad Kitchen unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,783,883
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $536K–$996K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$80K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

34%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$277K
EBITDA margin
15.5%
Total invested
$821K
Payback
36 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 CHOP5 Salad Kitchen units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

34.0%

4.32× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.39×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$5.6M

on $15.2M purchase

Total debt

$9.5M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($7.6M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

CHOP5 franchisees operate fast-casual salad and bowl restaurants, managing food preparation, inventory, staffing, and point-of-sale operations in limited-service environments. Daily operations involve customizable salad/bowl assembly, ingredient sourcing and management, and drive-through or dine-in/takeout service delivery.

CEO
Allen Hertzman
Founded
2019
FDD year
2024
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$536K – $996K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $80K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.5%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
1.4 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.8M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Company-Owned
Sample size
1 units
vs category median 15 · small
Transparency
9 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank39th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank69th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank16th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank30th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
3
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2022
0+1
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 · 7 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 · 7 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.

Total loans
23
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

55
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE55 / 100

CHOP5 presents material risk due to extremely small franchise network (3 units), unprotected territory, unverified financial claims, and unclear corporate financial health despite attractive per-unit profitability metrics.

Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 3 units system-wide suggests minimal scale, market validation, and support infrastructure
  2. 02MEDNo disclosed growth trajectory despite averaging $1.78M revenue per unit — indicates stagnation or contraction risk
  3. 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other CHOP5 franchisees and company-owned locations
  4. 04MINORHigh investment range ($535K-$996K) with only 3 reference units limits ability to validate unit economics
  5. 05HIGHGoing Concern = False status suggests potential corporate financial instability or operational challenges
  6. 06MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify claimed $1.78M average revenue

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
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
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Kentucky

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
9 hrs
On-the-job training
18 hrs
POS system
Toast
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

8 numbers

Locked
(213) 576-••••
CA
(303) 921-••••
AZ
(317) 232-••••
IN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

CHOP5 Salad Kitchen · FDD (2024) PDF

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