Pappalecco Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $343K – $637K
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Pappalecco is an Italian cafe franchise serving gelato, coffee, panini, and Italian fare. Franchisees run the cafes, managing food and gelato prep, staffing, and service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Pappalecco franchise requires a total initial investment of $343K – $637K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below 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: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: partial✓ 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 scored6 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $343K – $637K
- 56th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only2 outlets
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 12th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 2
- 9th 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 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 $343K – $637K including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 35/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative, pipeline stalled: 2 agreements signed but not yet open against 2 open outlets (Item 20).
- DATAItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Pappalecco Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Gelaterie Bucci Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 7 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Francesco Bucci
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 3402 Kurtz Street, San Diego, California 92110
- Auditor
- DA Advisory Group PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $25K
- vs $50K prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Francesco Bucci
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 1
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost is about typical for a quick-service restaurants franchise (near the category median).
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown14 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Training Expensesnot refundable | $3K | $7K | |
| Rent and Deposit (3 months)not refundable | $12K | $25K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $40K | $200K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment & Smallwarenot refundable | $120K | $140K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $7K | $14K | |
| Business Management Systemnot refundable | $3K | $6K | |
| Licenses and Permitsnot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Legal and Accountingnot refundable | $4K | $12K | |
| Utility Depositsnot refundable | $500 | $1K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Initial Inventorynot refundable | $50K | $95K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing Expenditurenot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Additional Funds (3 months)not refundable | $50K | $80K | |
| Total initial investment | $343K | $637K |
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
- $343K – $637K
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $50K – $80K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $50 |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $50K – $95K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for Pappalecco is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Pappalecco 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 annual revenue, 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.
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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Based on only 2 outlets
- Item 19 type
- company owned historical
- Sample size
- 2 outlets
- vs category median 19 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $1.1M→$1.2MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 47 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
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.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% (near the Quick-Service Restaurants median).
Disclosure
Item 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
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 Pappalecco 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 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 2
- Opened
- 0
- 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
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 2
- 1.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 50.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 1 state reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
1
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
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
Pappalecco presents caution-level risk: a micro-franchise system with only 2 units, unverified financial claims, and insufficient franchisor revenue to support meaningful franchisee support.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · DA Advisory Group PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
All operating revenue is franchise fee income recognized over time; 2024 total revenue $24,750 (deferred revenue current portion $24,750 at year end). Going concern doubt noted by auditors for one year after April 13, 2025.
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 35 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 2 operating units represents an extremely small, unproven franchise system with no demonstrated growth trajectory
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($343K-$636.5K) relative to system size creates significant risk if franchisee underperforms or system contracts
- 03MEDAbsence of disclosed litigation is notable but not reassuring given the minimal unit count and short operating history
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 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| 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 | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | California |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | CA |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 55 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 63 hrs
- Training location
- Corporate headquarters in San Diego, CA or other designated location / online
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 9 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Business Management System (2 POS terminals, receipt printers, desktop computer, office printer/scanner, modem)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Business Management System (2 POS terminals, receipt printers, desktop computer, office printer/scanner, modem)
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Pappalecco franchise?
The total investment to open a Pappalecco franchise ranges from $343K – $637K, 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 Pappalecco franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the Pappalecco FDD discloses outlet figures from $1.1M to $1.2M but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Pappalecco?
Pappalecco is franchised by Pappalecco Franchising, LLC. Its parent company is Gelaterie Bucci Inc.. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Pappalecco 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 Pappalecco FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Pappalecco's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Pappalecco (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 Pappalecco franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Pappalecco has 2 total units in the United States.
Is Pappalecco a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Pappalecco as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 35 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?
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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.