FranchiseVerdict
Frios gourmet pops logo
FV-01007·MODERATEExcellent81

Frios gourmet pops

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2018Website
Investment
$60K – $211K
2nd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
Units
109
84th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $60K – $211K including a $38K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 5 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 83.1% CAGR over 3 years with 109 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Frios Franchising Company, LLC
Parent company
FGP Holding, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
1201 West I-65 Service Road North, Mobile, Alabama 36618
Auditor
Reese CPA LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.1M
vs $515K 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 Frios gourmet pops unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
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: $60K–$211K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$20K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

75%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$150K
Payback
16 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate small-format gourmet popsicle retail locations, typically in high-traffic areas like malls, parks, or street-front venues. Day-to-day operations include preparing/serving specialty flavored pops, managing inventory, handling point-of-sale transactions, and maintaining seasonal marketing. Most units appear to be mobile carts or kiosks rather than full brick-and-mortar stores.

CEO
Clifford L. “Cliff” Kennedy III
Founded
2018
FDD year
2025
States available
25

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$60K – $211K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $20K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$38K
Royalty
Flat weekly fee ranging from $125 to $875 based on the nu…
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
2.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
109
Opened
30
Last reporting year
Closed
11
Turnover rate
10.1%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+21.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+83.1%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
108+19
Franchised units
2024
89
Franchised units
2025
59
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 6 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 · 6 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
5
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

57
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE57 / 100

Lack of financial transparency (no Item 19) combined with going concern questions and modest unit growth creates material uncertainty around franchisee profitability and franchisor stability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) — impossible to assess ROI or profitability
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests financial instability or disclosure gaps in FDD
  3. 03MINORFlat weekly fee structure ($125-$875) is unusual and lacks transparency on actual cost burden relative to sales
  4. 04MINOROnly 109 units with 21.3% YoY growth is modest for a gourmet concept; growth rate doesn't offset small base
  5. 05MEDHigh initial investment ($59.5k-$211k) combined with no disclosed earnings creates unfavorable risk/reward ratio
  6. 06MED10-year term is lengthy with no disclosed exit provisions or buyback guarantees

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
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
Required
Governing law
Alabama

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
12 hrs
On-the-job training
2 hrs
POS system
Square
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

75 numbers

Locked
(602) 819-••••
AZ
(205) 585-••••
AZ
(937) 754-••••
AZ

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Frios gourmet pops · FDD (2025) PDF

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