Tifa Chocolate & GelatoFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Tifa Chocolate & Gelato franchise requires a total initial investment of $500K – $676K, including a $48K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $547K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans[1]. Verdict grade: B. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $500K – $676K
- 81st pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $547K
- 12th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 9
- 33rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Only 0.0% of 17 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
Franchised units fell from 9 to 3 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $500K – $676K including a $48K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $547K/year (median $508K).
- Verdict B (Above Average) with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 17 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- TIFA FOODS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Michael Ashamalla
- CEO experience
- 19 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 2060 D Avenida de los Arboles, #471, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362-1361
- Auditor
- Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $225K
- vs $313K prior year
Affiliated brands
- has previously offered franchises of any type
- Tifa
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate specialty gelato and artisanal chocolate retail locations, handling daily production, customer service, inventory management, and point-of-sale operations. Day-to-day activities include batch gelato production, chocolate tempering/molding, counter service, and seasonal promotional execution. Most locations operate as walk-in/takeout format with limited seating.
- CEO
- Michael Ashamalla
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2017
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 4
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $48K | $48K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $20K | $30K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $432K | $599K |
| Total initial investment | $500K | $676K |
Source: Tifa Chocolate & Gelato 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$82K
15.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
13%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
7.5 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $500K – $676K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $30K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $48K – $48K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $1 |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $13K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $547K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $508K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 7 units
- vs category median 28 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $244K→$1.0M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $344K→$468K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Tifa Chocolate & Gelato Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 9
- Opened
- 4
- 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
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
- Net growth (yr3)
- +80.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +200.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 2
- Closed (3yr)
- 1
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Projected new
- 7
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 11.1%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 19 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 17
- Loan volume
- $4.8M
- Median loan
- $350K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 6
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Tifa Chocolate & Gelato's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 6 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 5 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 6-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 17 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Early-stage gelato/chocolate concept with unproven unit economics, franchisor going concern issues, and no profitability disclosure creates material risk despite protected territories and growth rate.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this disclosure document.
Largest disclosed settlement: $85,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation against $499k-$676k investment
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential franchisor financial instability or operational uncertainty
- 03MINOROnly 9 units with 80% YoY growth is modest absolute scale; high failure risk in early-stage systems
- 04MED6% royalty on $547k average revenue ($32,826/year) combined with undisclosed COGS makes profitability opaque
- 05MEDHigh initial investment ($499k-$676k) relative to disclosed average revenue suggests long payback period and cash flow stress
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Radius or population-based |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 4 mi |
| Territory population | 100,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 15 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Westlake Village, California |
| Governing law | California |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this disclosure document.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 25 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 84 hrs
- Field support
- 40 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 18 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- Clover
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Clover
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
36 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Tifa Chocolate & Gelato · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Tifa Chocolate & Gelato franchise?
The total investment to open a Tifa Chocolate & Gelato franchise ranges from $500K – $676K, with an initial franchise fee of $48K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Tifa Chocolate & Gelato franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Tifa Chocolate & Gelato FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $547K. The median is $508K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Tifa Chocolate & Gelato's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Tifa Chocolate & Gelato has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 17 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Tifa Chocolate & Gelato franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Tifa Chocolate & Gelato has 9 total units in the United States, including 9 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 4 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Tifa Chocolate & Gelato a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Tifa Chocolate & Gelato as a B-grade franchise with a risk score of 54 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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.
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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.