FranchiseVerdict
Clean Eatz logo
FV-00557·STRONGExcellent95

Clean Eatz

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2015Website
Investment
$354K – $798K
47th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.1M
21st pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
98
82nd pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $354K – $798K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $977K). Estimated payback in 3.8 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 42/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 138 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 44.8% CAGR over 3 years with 98 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Clean Eatz Franchising LLC
Parent company
V & V Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
North Carolina
HQ
203 Racine Drive, Wilmington NC 28403
Auditor
Earney & Company, L.L.P.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$6.7M
vs $7.9M 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 Clean Eatz unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,086,720
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: $354K–$798K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$40K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

27%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$163K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$606K
Payback
45 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 Clean Eatz 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

$1.7M

on $8.7M purchase

Total debt

$7.0M

SBA $4.3M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Clean Eatz franchisees operate health-focused food preparation and meal delivery concepts, preparing fresh, macro-balanced meals for fitness-conscious consumers. Day-to-day operations involve food sourcing, meal prep/cooking, packaging, customer order fulfillment, and local marketing. Revenue typically comes from direct consumer sales, corporate wellness programs, and delivery partnerships.

CEO
Don Varady
Founded
2015
FDD year
2024
States available
20

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$354K – $798K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $40K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
3.8 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.1M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$977K
Item 19 type
Average and Median
Sample size
67 units
vs category median 15 · large
Range (low → high)
$406K$2.4M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank21th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank47th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank82th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank3th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
98
Opened
21
Last reporting year
Closed
8
Turnover rate
8.2%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+12.8%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+44.8%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
97+11
Franchised units
2023
86
Franchised units
2024
67
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 22 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 · 22 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
138
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

42
Risk · 0-100
STRONG42 / 100

Clean Eatz presents moderate-to-cautious risk: unverified revenue claims, modest growth trajectory, and tight margins require thorough validation with existing franchisees before committing $350K–$800K.

Score breakdown · what drove the 42 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify $1.09M average revenue claim
  2. 02MINORModest unit growth of 12.8% YoY suggests market saturation or slower-than-expected expansion momentum
  3. 03MINORHigh investment range ($353K–$798K) with 6% royalty creates breakeven pressure on units generating below $1.09M
  4. 04MEDNet income margin of ~14% ($153K on $1.09M) leaves limited cushion for underperforming locations or economic downturns
  5. 05HIGHGoing concern status is 'False' (not explicitly stated as a going concern issue), but lack of transparency on franchisor financial health is concerning

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 or Population
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
North Carolina

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
36 hrs
On-the-job training
77 hrs
POS system
Brink
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

92 numbers

Locked
(804) 369-••••
VA
(513) 847-••••
OH
(843) 509-••••
SC

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Clean Eatz · FDD (2024) PDF

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