Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe
Bottom line
- Total investment $416K – $1.0M including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.4M/year (median $1.3M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 59/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 5 loans (below the industry average).
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 Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
25%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.9M
on $9.6M purchase
Total debt
$7.7M
SBA $4.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Pickleman's Gourmet Cafe franchisees operate fast-casual dining establishments focused on gourmet sandwiches, salads, and made-to-order meals. Day-to-day operations involve managing front-of-house customer service, food preparation and quality control, inventory management, and back-office functions including staff scheduling and compliance with franchise standards.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 8 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
Profitability opacity combined with modest growth, unclear going concern status, and high royalty obligations relative to disclosed revenue create meaningful due diligence gaps.
Score breakdown · what drove the 59 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents profitability assessment despite $1.37M average revenue
- 02MINORModest unit growth of 10.7% YoY suggests slower expansion or potential saturation concerns
- 03MINORWide investment range ($416K-$1.04M) indicates inconsistent unit economics or site-dependent performance
- 04HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, which is atypical for an active franchisor and warrants clarification
- 05MINOR6% royalty on $1.37M average revenue equals ~$82K annual obligation with unknown net margins
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
31 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe · FDD (2025) PDF