COBS BreadFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A COBS Bread franchise requires a total initial investment of $934K – $1.3M, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.2M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $934K – $1.3M
- 95th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.2M
- 40th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 80th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 194
- 81st pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
17% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $934K – $1.3M including a $25K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.2M/year (median $1.1M), with an estimated 17% cash-on-cash return (based on P&L Bottom Line).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 22/100.
- System growing at 16.8% CAGR over 3 years with 194 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- COBS USA INC.
- Parent company
- Bakers Delight Holdings Ltd.
- CEO title
- President
- Roger Gillespie
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- Suite 210, 1100 Melville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6E 4A6
- Auditor
- Brantley Janson
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $822K
- vs $2.1M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
COBS Bread franchisees operate neighborhood bakeries that produce fresh bread, pastries, and baked goods daily. Day-to-day operations include dough preparation, baking, staffing counter and production teams, managing inventory, and retail customer service in a typically 1,000–1,500 sq ft storefront.
- CEO
- Roger Gillespie
- Founded
- 2014
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 2
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25K | $25K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $18K | $65K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $892K | $1.2M |
| Total initial investment | $934K | $1.3M |
Source: COBS Bread 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$147K
12.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
13%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
7.8 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $934K – $1.3M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $18K – $65K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- Net Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 5.9 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $290 |
| Training fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.2M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.1M
- Avg p&l bottom line
- $187K
- Reported as P&L Bottom Line in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 16.9%
- Based on P&L Bottom Line / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- subset of affiliate's Canadian outlets
- Sample size
- 171 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $612K→$2.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $891K→$1.6M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How COBS Bread Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 194
- Opened
- 13
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 1
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.5%
- Company-owned
- 6
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +6.8%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +16.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 8
- Projected new
- 17
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 4.1%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 2.1%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 19 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 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
COBS Bread presents moderate-to-cautious risk: solid fundamentals with protected territory and no litigation, but lack of Item 19 disclosure, slow growth rate, and high capital requirements relative to profits warrant deep validation of financial claims.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Brantley Janson
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
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 22 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representation disclosed — cannot independently verify claimed $1.22M average revenue or $186.9K net income
- 02MINORModest unit growth of 6.8% YoY suggests slowing expansion momentum in a mature 194-unit system
- 03MEDHigh initial investment ($934K–$1.27M) relative to disclosed net income ($186.9K) yields only 15–20% annual return before accounting for owner labor
- 04MINOR7% royalty on net sales is standard but compounds pressure on thin margins if actual performance lags averages
- 05MINORBakery category faces structural headwinds (commodity pricing, rising labor costs, changing bread consumption trends)
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Territory type | Site-specific |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Not allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 1 year |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 21 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | New York City, New York |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | New York |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 590 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 50 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- POS system
- Bready
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Bready
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
88 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
COBS Bread · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a COBS Bread franchise?
The total investment to open a COBS Bread franchise ranges from $934K – $1.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do COBS Bread franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the COBS Bread FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.2M. The median is $1.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is COBS Bread's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for COBS Bread (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 COBS Bread franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, COBS Bread has 194 total units in the United States, including 161 franchised units and 6 company-owned units. 13 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is COBS Bread a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates COBS Bread as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 22 out of 100, 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.
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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.