FranchiseVerdict
Häagen-Dazs logo
FV-01265·STRONGExcellent91

Häagen-Dazs

Food & Beverage - Ice Cream & DessertsFranchising since 1983Website
Investment
$213K – $592K
42nd pct Ice Cream & D…
Avg revenue
$721K
36th pct Ice Cream & D…
Royalty
4.0%
3rd pct Ice Cream & D…
Units
215
86th pct Ice Cream & D…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $213K – $592K including a $30K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $721K/year (median $631K).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 49/100.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company, Inc.
Parent company
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Company, Inc.
Incorporated in
New Jersey
HQ
7500 Flying Cloud Drive, Suite 750, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$9.8M
vs $10.4M 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 Häagen-Dazs unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $721,069
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $213K–$592K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$64K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

21%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$94K
EBITDA margin
13.0%
Total invested
$439K
Payback
56 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Häagen-Dazs units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$865K

on $4.3M purchase

Total debt

$3.5M

SBA $2.2M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate ice cream shops or kiosks selling Häagen-Dazs premium ice cream, gelato, and frozen beverages under the brand. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, staffing, point-of-sale transactions, customer service, and maintaining brand standards through proprietary recipes and store presentation. Most locations are seasonal or location-dependent (airports, malls, tourist areas).

CEO
Adam Hanson
Founded
1983
FDD year
2026
States available
29

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$213K – $592K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $64K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
4.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
5.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$721K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$631K
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
179 units
vs category median 18 · large
Range (low → high)
$166K$2.2M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank36th
vs Food & Beverage - Ice Cream & Desserts peers
Investment cost rank42th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank3th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank86th
vs Food & Beverage - Ice Cream & Desserts peers
Risk score rank10th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
215
Opened
15
Last reporting year
Closed
7
Turnover rate
3.3%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+3.9%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+2.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
215+8
Franchised units
2025
207
Franchised units
2026
209
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 14 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 · 14 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

49
Risk · 0-100
STRONG49 / 100

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.

Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to verify actual profitability against $721k average revenue
  2. 02MINORUnit growth flat at 3.9% YoY — below industry standards for premium ice cream, suggests market saturation or underperformance
  3. 03MEDHigh capital requirement ($213k-$591k) with 4% royalty creates breakeven pressure if revenue declines
  4. 04MINOROnly 215 units system-wide — smaller franchise network increases systemic vulnerability to economic downturns
  5. 05MINOR10-year term locks franchisee into agreement during uncertain economic/consumer preference cycles

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Minnesota

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
30 hrs
On-the-job training
21 hrs
POS system
Treatware POS
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

98 numbers

Locked
(240) 243-••••
MD
(407) 560-••••
FL
(760) 804-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Häagen-Dazs · FDD (2026) PDF

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