Tifa Chocolate & Gelato
Bottom line
- Total investment $500K – $676K including a $48K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $547K/year (median $508K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 38 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 Tifa Chocolate & Gelato unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
10%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Tifa Chocolate & Gelato units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$438K
on $2.2M purchase
Total debt
$1.8M
SBA $1.1M + senior + seller note
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.
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 · 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 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
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.
Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 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
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
36 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Tifa Chocolate & Gelato · FDD (2025) PDF