FranchiseVerdict
Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee logo
FV-02786·MODERATEExcellent81

Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee

Food & Beverage - Coffee & TeaFranchising since 2021Website
Investment
$202K – $259K
23rd pct Coffee & Tea
Avg revenue
49th pct Coffee & Tea
Royalty
Units
261
91st pct Coffee & Tea
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $202K – $259K including a $15K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
  • System growing at 416.0% CAGR over 3 years with 261 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Mobile Coffee Company, LLC
Parent company
Kona Ice BuyerCo, LLC; Kona Ice MidCo I, LLC; Kona Ice MidCo II, LLC; Kona Ice TopCo, LLC; and Mobile Coffee Company Intermediate Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
5945 Centennial Circle, Florence, Kentucky 41042
Auditor
Barnes Dennig
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$19.3M
vs $28.6M prior year

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 Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $202K–$259K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $1K–$14K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

28%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$68K
EBITDA margin
9.0%
Total invested
$238K
Payback
42 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate mobile or fixed-location specialty coffee retail shops under the Travelin' Tom's brand, handling daily barista operations, customer service, inventory management, and local marketing. Revenue depends on foot traffic, product pricing, and operational efficiency, with franchisees bearing full responsibility for labor, rent/vehicle costs, and supplies.

CEO
Tony Lamb
Founded
2021
FDD year
2025
States available
37

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$202K – $259K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$1K – $14K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$15K
Royalty
$3,000 for years one and two; $4,000 for years three thro…
Ad fund
$1,000 per year

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

Total units
261
Opened
124
Last reporting year
Closed
5
Turnover rate
1.9%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+85.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2023
258+119
Franchised units
2024
139
Franchised units
2025
50
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 16 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 · 16 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

62
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE62 / 100

Travelin' Tom's Coffee presents significant caution due to missing financial disclosure, going concern flag, and extreme unit growth rate that may mask unit-level profitability problems.

Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) — impossible to validate ROI claims or assess profitability
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests potential financial instability at franchisor level despite unit growth
  3. 03MINORRapid unit growth of 85.6% YoY is unsustainable and may indicate aggressive recruitment masking underlying unit performance issues
  4. 04MINORRoyalty structure is extremely low ($3,000-$5,000 annually) — either units are unprofitable or franchisor is undercapitalized
  5. 05MINORHigh total investment range ($201,840-$259,325) relative to low ongoing royalties suggests weak unit economics
  6. 06MINOR10-year term with escalating royalties creates long-term lock-in with minimal franchisor financial transparency

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographic area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
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
Required
Governing law
Kentucky

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
14 hrs
On-the-job training
10 hrs
POS system
Square
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

88 numbers

Locked
(256) 453-••••
AL
(850) 262-••••
FL
(504) 457-••••
LA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee · FDD (2025) PDF

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