Le Pain Quotidien
Formerly known as Brunch
Bottom line
- Total investment $957K – $1.8M including a $22K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 67/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
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 Le Pain Quotidien unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
6%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Le Pain Quotidien franchisees operate upscale Belgian-style bakery-café concepts serving artisanal breads, pastries, and casual dining in urban/premium locations. Daily operations include managing in-house baking production, inventory, front-of-house service, staffing (typically 15–25 employees), food safety compliance, and maintaining brand standards across a capital-intensive, labor-dependent model.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 3 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Litigation-burdened franchisor with undisclosed unit economics, financial opacity, and unclear growth trajectory presents elevated risk relative to capital requirements and franchisee recourse.
Score breakdown · what drove the 67 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHActive litigation seeking $18M damages and rescission of development agreement signals serious disclosure/compliance issues between franchisor and franchisees
- 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (avg revenue/net income not provided) prevents validation of ROI on $957K–$1.8M investment
- 03MINOROnly 64 total units with unknown growth trajectory suggests potential system stagnation or contraction in competitive bakery-café market
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($957K–$1.8M) combined with undisclosed profitability creates asymmetric risk for franchisee
- 05HIGHGoing concern status indicates potential franchisor financial instability, raising questions about support, marketing fund viability, and long-term system stability
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
3 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Le Pain Quotidien · FDD (2023) PDF