Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream
Bottom line
- Total investment $217K – $356K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $228K/year (median $220K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 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 Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
7%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$137K
on $684K purchase
Total debt
$547K
SBA $0.3M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Sub Zero franchisees operate specialty ice cream shops featuring liquid nitrogen-frozen ice cream, emphasizing experiential service and premium positioning. Day-to-day operations involve preparing custom ice cream orders tableside using nitrogen, managing inventory of mix-in toppings, handling POS transactions, and creating viral-worthy moments for social media marketing.
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 · 24 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
Sub Zero presents moderate-to-caution risk due to missing profitability disclosure, sluggish unit growth, and high capex relative to revenue, with unproven unit economics in a niche market category.
Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims or actual ROI
- 02MEDSlow unit growth of only 5.6% YoY with 40 units suggests limited market traction or saturation concerns
- 03MEDHigh initial investment ($216.8K–$356K) relative to disclosed average revenue ($228K) creates thin margin for error and extended payback period
- 04MED6% royalty on gross sales with no disclosed net income makes it difficult to model true franchise profitability
- 05MEDNitrogen ice cream is a novelty category with limited consumer awareness — higher customer acquisition costs likely
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
48 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream · FDD (2025) PDF