FranchiseVerdict
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FV-02056·STRONGExcellent91

Protein Bar & Kitchen

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2023Website
Investment
$370K – $685K
49th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.3M
26th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
16
50th pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $370K – $685K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.3M). Estimated payback in 2.8 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 40/100.
  • 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

Legal entity
Protein Bar and Kitchen Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Protein Bar, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
231 South LaSalle Street, Suite 2100, Chicago, Illinois 60604
Auditor
Plante & Moran, PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $115K prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Protein Bar & Kitchen unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,265,051
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $370K–$685K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$25K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

35%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$190K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$547K
Payback
35 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 Protein Bar & Kitchen units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.1%

7.37× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.89×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$2.1M

on $10.1M purchase

Total debt

$8.0M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($5.1M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate fast-casual health-focused restaurants serving protein-based meals, smoothies, and nutritional products. Day-to-day operations involve food preparation, inventory management, POS systems, staffing, and marketing within a protected territory. Revenue heavily dependent on foot traffic, local marketing effectiveness, and consistency with brand standards.

CEO
Jeff Drake
Founded
2023
FDD year
2025
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$370K – $685K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $25K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
2.8 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.3M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.3M
Item 19 type
Affiliate-owned outlets
Sample size
5 units
vs category median 15 · small
Range (low → high)
$957K$1.6M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank26th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank49th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank50th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank2th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
16
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
13
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
19%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
10.0%
Net growth (yr3)
+200.0%
Net unit change last year
2023
3+2
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 6 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 · 6 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

40
Risk · 0-100
STRONG40 / 100

Rapidly expanding early-stage franchise with attractive unit economics but limited proven track record and high capital requirements relative to profits.

Score breakdown · what drove the 40 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORExplosive 200% YoY unit growth (16 units) suggests early-stage instability and unproven scalability
  2. 02MINORHigh initial investment ($369.5K-$685K) relative to average net income ($191K) yields 1.8-3.6 year payback with no margin for error
  3. 03MINORModest 6% royalty may indicate underpricing or insufficient franchisor support infrastructure for rapid expansion
  4. 04MINOROnly 16 operating units limits statistical reliability of average revenue/income data; outliers heavily skew results
  5. 05MEDNo disclosed Item 19 (financial performance representations) requires heavy reliance on unverified averages

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
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Illinois

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
240 hrs
POS system
Toast
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

11 numbers

Locked
(312) 300-••••
The franchisor is Protein Bar and Kitchen Franchising, LLC, located at
IL
(415) 972-••••
One Sansome Street, Suite
CA
(213) 576-••••
Suite
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Protein Bar & Kitchen · FDD (2025) PDF

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