Häagen-Dazs Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $213K – $592K
- Disclosed sales
- $721K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 16.7%
- on 48 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Haagen-Dazs is a premium ice-cream franchise operating shops and kiosks serving its super-premium ice cream, gelato, and frozen treats. Franchisees run shops managing scooping, inventory, and counter service in malls, tourist, and street locations.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Häagen-Dazs franchise requires a total initial investment of $213K – $592K, including a $30K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $721K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 16.7% charge-off rate across 48 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low - issued within the last 12 months
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored7 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $213K – $592K
- 27th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $721K
- 11th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 215
- 84th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 16.7%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants median · 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 $213K – $592K including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $721K/year (median $631K).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 56/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 16.7% across 48 loans (above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- GROWTHPositive: net +8 franchised outlets in the latest year (15 opened, 7 closed); 19 signed but not yet open (Item 20).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc.
- Parent company
- Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Company, Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2026 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- Froneri International Limited
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2026 FDD
- CEO title
- President
- Adam Hanson
- Incorporated in
- NJ
- HQ
- 7500 Flying Cloud Drive, Suite 750, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $10.8M
- vs $10.4M prior year
Affiliated brands
- that offers franchises only outside of the United States
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Adam Hanson
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 1983
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 29
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 17% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown8 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $30K | $30K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses During Training | $3K | $3K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $105K | $350K | |
| Deposits and Licenses | $8K | $18K | |
| Equipment, Fixtures and Furnishings | $50K | $115K | |
| Opening Inventory | $6K | $10K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $3K | |
| Additional Funds - Three Months | $10K | $64K | |
| Total initial investment | $213K | $592K |
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
- $213K – $592K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $64K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- $6,300 per year for a Shop as of issuance
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $8K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $6K – $10K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
A 5.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 26% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · 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 Häagen-Dazs 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 ad fund rate, 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
$439K
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 Häagen-Dazs 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 ad fund rate, 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 ad fund rate, 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: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $721K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $631K
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
- 179 outlets
- vs category median 19 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $166K→$2.2MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 63 of the 2026 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · typical
Compared against 781 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 $721K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.8x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 5.0% — below the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.5%.
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 roughly stable (+3.4% 3-year CAGR) with 215 units.
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 medians
How Häagen-Dazs Compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 215
- Opened
- 15
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 7
- Terminated
- 1
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 3.3%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +3.4%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +3.4%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 1
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 11
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 19
- 0.09 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 17
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Termination rate
- 0.9%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 3.3%
- Units that stopped operating
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 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.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
94 current owners across 17 states.
- FL 46
- CA 12
- CO 8
- AZ 4
- NY 4
- CT 3
- DC 3
- DE 2
- GA 2
- MD 2
- NJ 2
- AK 1
- +5 more states
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20; 202 entries carry no state. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 48
- Loan volume
- $7.9M
- Median loan
- $164K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- 16.7%
- on 48 loans · rates vary by category · see methodology
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
- 27
- Defaults
- 7
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans here charge off near the 16.0% national average.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Häagen-Dazs presents moderate-to-cautious risk: a premium brand with solid average revenue but undisclosed profitability, minimal unit growth, and high capital requirements that warrant deep financial validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
FY ended Dec 31, 2025. Revenues = Royalty, franchise fee and other $8,594,579 + Commissions earned from Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Company $2,170,664 = Total revenues $10,765,243. Franchisor is The Haagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Company, Inc.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to verify actual profitability against $721k average revenue
- 02MINORUnit growth flat at 3.9% YoY — below industry standards for premium ice cream, suggests market saturation or underperformance
- 03MEDHigh capital requirement ($213k-$591k) with 4% royalty creates breakeven pressure if revenue declines
- 04MINOROnly 215 units system-wide — smaller franchise network increases systemic vulnerability to economic downturns
- 05MINOR10-year term locks franchisee into agreement during uncertain economic/consumer preference cycles
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 2 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | MN |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 30 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 21 hrs
- Training location
- Eden Prairie, MN (on-site training facility) and Mall of America in Bloomington, MN
- Ongoing training
- Optional
- Field support
- 40 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Site selection
- Franchisee identifies site; franchisor must approve
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Treatware POS (marketed by Innovative Computer Software)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Treatware POS (marketed by Innovative Computer Software)
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
296 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Häagen-Dazs franchise?
The total investment to open a Häagen-Dazs franchise ranges from $213K – $592K, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Häagen-Dazs franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Häagen-Dazs FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $721K. The median is $631K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Häagen-Dazs?
Häagen-Dazs is franchised by The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc.. Its parent company is Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Company, Inc.. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Froneri International Limited. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Häagen-Dazs 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 Häagen-Dazs FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Häagen-Dazs's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Häagen-Dazs has a charge-off rate of 16.7% across 48 loans, meaning 16.7% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Häagen-Dazs franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Häagen-Dazs has 215 total units in the United States, including 215 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 15 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Häagen-Dazs a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Häagen-Dazs as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 56 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
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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.