Ralph's Famous Italian Ices
Bottom line
- Total investment $112K – $318K including a $20K franchise fee.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 7 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 Ralph's Famous Italian Ices unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
30%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate Italian ice retail shops (primarily seasonal in cold climates, year-round in warm regions) selling pre-packaged frozen Italian ice products, soft-serve ice cream mix, and add-on products. Day-to-day operations include inventory management of branded tubs/mix, point-of-sale transactions, staffing seasonal employees, and marketing within protected territory.
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 · 4 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
Ralph's operates a small, slow-growing system with complete financial opacity and an unconventional tiered royalty model that obscures true unit economics and franchisee profitability.
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORZero financial disclosure (no Item 19 average revenues or net income) — impossible to validate ROI claims or unit economics
- 02MEDStagnant unit growth (1.2% YoY, only 83 units) — suggests limited scalability, weak recruitment, or franchisee struggles
- 03MINORUnusual royalty structure (per-tub + per-gallon mix + percentage) — creates opaque cost tracking and potential margin compression
- 04MEDMid-range investment ($111K–$318K) with no disclosed average returns — high capital at risk relative to system transparency
- 05MINOR7-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years typical) — higher renewal risk and shorter payback window
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
12 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Ralph's Famous Italian Ices · FDD (2025) PDF