Grain & Berry Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Grain & Berry is a fast-casual superfood franchise serving acai and smoothie bowls, juices, and healthy meals. Franchisees run the shops, managing fresh prep, staffing, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Grain & Berry franchise requires a total initial investment of $258K – $674K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.2M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $258K – $674K
- 40th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.2M
- Incl. company outlets23rd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 48th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 16
- 46th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $258K – $674K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.2M/year (median $1.1M) (includes company-owned outlets).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 73/100 (higher is better).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Grain & Berry Cafe, LLC
- Parent company
- Acai Group, LLC
- Predecessor
- Acai Group, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Manager & CEO
- Jack E. Kessler III
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- FL
- HQ
- 3152 Little Rd., Suite 324, Trinity, Florida 34655-1864
- Auditor
- Hacker, Johnson & Smith PA
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $854K
- vs $751K prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Jack E. Kessler III
- Headquarters
- FL
- Founded
- 2017
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 3
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 30% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Real Estate Lease Payments - deposit, 1 monthnot refundable | $6K | $13K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $150K | $375K | |
| Construction Management Feenot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Wages, Travel and Living Expenses for You and Your Manager During Trainingnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Restaurant Kitchen Equipment Purchase Deposit and Initial Paymentnot refundable | $0 | $80K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Non-Kitchen Equipmentnot refundable | $15K | $25K | |
| Computer Systemnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Signsnot refundable | $6K | $15K | |
| Initial Inventory and Suppliesnot refundable | $3K | $30K | |
| Employee Salaries - 3 monthsnot refundable | $9K | $25K | |
| Local Advertising Expenditures Fee and costsnot refundable | $4K | $10K | |
| Insurance - 3 monthsnot refundable | $1K | $2K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $10K | $40K | |
| Area Development Feenot refundable | $50K | $223K | |
| Total initial investment | $308K | $896K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $258K – $674K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $40K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of net sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of net sales |
| Technology fee | $309 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $3K – $30K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales land near the quick-service restaurants norm.
Includes company-owned outlets
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Grain & Berry until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$491K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Grain & Berry unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2024 FDD
Financial Performance
Includes company-owned outlets
- Avg gross sales
- $1.2M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.1M
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 13 outlets
- vs category median 18
- Range (low → high)
- $941K→$1.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2024
- Disclosed in the 2024 filing, covering 2023
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $1.2M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 2.5x. Includes company-owned outlets.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 55.6% CAGR over 3 years across 16 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Grain & Berry Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 16
- Opened
- 4
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 88%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +55.6%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +55.6%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 4
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 4
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 15
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
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).
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.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 25
- Loan volume
- $9.6M
- Median loan
- $384K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- no resolved loans yet — rate needs a terminal outcome
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 9
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Grain & Berry shows growth momentum but lacks transparent profitability disclosure and exhibits concerning corporate financial reporting gaps that warrant deep validation before investment.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Hacker, Johnson & Smith PA
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
FY2023 total revenue of $854,444 comprised franchise royalty and marketing fees $760,014, initial franchise fees $28,700, and restaurant products $65,730. Net loss of $(279,707) for 2023; members' deficit of $(562,085). Audited by Hacker, Johnson & Smith PA, Tampa, FL (Feb 23, 2024). Affiliate White Belt Distributors received $1,689,857 from required franchisee purchases (not in franchisor revenue).
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
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 73 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNet Income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims against $1.16M average revenue
- 02MINORWide investment range ($258K–$673.5K) suggests high variability in unit economics and startup costs
- 03MINORRapid 40% YoY unit growth may indicate aggressive recruitment outpacing sustainable unit performance
- 04MINORNo 'Going Concern' statement filed — potential financial stability questions at corporate level
- 05MED6% royalty on undisclosed net income creates opacity around actual franchisee take-home profitability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 4 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 30,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Hillsborough County, Florida |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | FL |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 74 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 86 hrs
- Training location
- Training Restaurant in Palm Harbor, FL and Corporate Headquarters; online platform pre-training
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 12 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects; franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Toast POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
18 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Grain & Berry · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Grain & Berry franchise?
The total investment to open a Grain & Berry franchise ranges from $258K – $674K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Grain & Berry franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Grain & Berry FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.2M. The median is $1.1M. Important context: Includes company-owned outlets. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Grain & Berry FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Grain & Berry FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Grain & Berry's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Grain & Berry (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 Grain & Berry franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Grain & Berry has 16 total units in the United States, including 14 franchised units and 2 company-owned units. 4 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Grain & Berry a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Grain & Berry as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 73 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Grain & Berry, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Quick-Service Restaurants category
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.