Fresca Palapa
Bottom line
- Total investment $153K – $304K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.2M/year. Estimated payback in 1.0 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 59/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Fresca Palapa unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
68%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Fresca Palapa units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.9M
on $9.7M purchase
Total debt
$7.8M
SBA $4.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Fresca Palapa franchisees operate casual dining establishments or quick-service restaurants featuring fresh, likely Latin/Caribbean-inspired cuisine (palapa theme suggests beachside/tropical positioning). Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, point-of-sale operations, staffing, and customer service in a fast-casual or counter-service environment.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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 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
Fresca Palapa presents a cautionary profile with concerning franchisor financial health, rapid unproven growth trajectory, and lack of transparent financial validation—requiring extensive franchisee reference calls before commitment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 59 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is False — franchisor may face financial viability issues despite healthy unit economics
- 02MINORExplosive 50% YoY unit growth may indicate unsustainable expansion or inflated recruitment claims rather than organic demand
- 03MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed — franchisees cannot independently verify the $238,739 average net income claim
- 04MINORWide investment range ($153,200-$303,900) suggests inconsistent build-out costs or undefined territory sizes, creating unpredictable capital requirements
- 05MINOROnly 14 units system-wide limits franchisee support infrastructure and brand recognition leverage
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
18 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Fresca Palapa · FDD (2025) PDF