How Much Can I Make With an Ice Cream Franchise?
Ice cream is a time-tested dessert option that’s held its ground through turns in the economy and the rise of the frozen yogurt fad. People love ice cream—it offers comfort and joy in the form of a frozen, flavored treat. As a result, popular ice cream franchises often perform quite well regardless of the economic environment. Explore the unit-level economics of ice cream franchises and see the financial information that helps make Jeremiah’s Italian Ice the hottest franchise opportunity in frozen desserts.
Ice Cream Franchise Business Operation
How do ice cream franchises keep up with seasonal changes in consumer behavior or economic shifts? The simplicity of Jeremiah’s frozen dessert brand model helps it withstand the test of time. Unlike a typical QSR or café franchise, ice cream franchises don’t require cooking. That eliminates the need for expensive cooking equipment or specialized labor. At Jeremiah’s, you just need freezers and a cool crew—who we can help you train. Your crew can also stay small which lowers your operational expenses dramatically when compared to a restaurant with front and back-end employees on every shift.
How Much Money Do Ice Cream Franchises Make?
It’s impossible to give a general idea of potential financial success in an industry with different concepts and products and players. It all depends on the strength of the brand, the corporate team’s vision and willingness to grow and support their franchisees, and the ability of the operators to maximize the potential of the model.
At Jeremiah’s, our average unit volume is among the highest in the category. $598,960 AUV1 is a testament to our proven model and the role each Jeremiah’s plays in their community. Our ice cream franchise also runs at a high sales-to-investment ratio—with operators seeing a 1.17 to 2.44 average return on investment2. It shows not only the power of the Jeremiah’s brand, but also the work our franchisees are willing to put in to succeed. Finally, a 50.2% gross profit after cost of goods & labor, excluding occupancy3 demonstrates the sustainability of our economic model.
Ice cream franchises and Italian ice franchises (and the combination of the two) are also conducive to multi-unit franchise deals. A frozen dessert brand like ours is simple to operate and therefore simple to scale, and its scalability means the more shops you have, the better your economics look. You’ll benefit from learning with one location and then being able to replicate those learnings over and over again with additional ice cream franchise locations.
Ice Cream Franchises Are Chilling On Top
How do you decide which brand to enter the $28 billion frozen dessert industry with? Consider one that has the best of both worlds: an ice cream franchise that has classic, timeless appeal while offering the bold and exciting flavors of something brand new: the frozen Gelati treat, Jeremiah’s flagship product. This layered blend of creamy Soft Ice Cream and authentically crafted Italian Ice is taking the frozen dessert industry by storm and giving other, older ice cream franchises a real run for their money.
What’s the Difference Between an Ice Cream Franchise and an Italian Ice Franchise?
An ice cream business and an Italian ice business may have similar performance depending on the market, because both cater to an audience in search of a sweet, frozen dessert treat. Jeremiah’s Italian Ice is a unique frozen dessert brand because our shops specialize in both ice cream and Italian ice.
Ice cream is a time-honored classic and, at Jeremiah’s, we do it justice. We perfected our creamy, Soft Ice Cream recipe to be luxuriously dense while light enough to be truly refreshing on a warm day or any time of year. Italian ice, on the other hand, is a refreshing and flavor-packed frozen dessert with roots throughout the east coast. It’s smooth and light, but nothing like a sorbet or sherbet, and not even close to a snow cone. It’s also vegetarian and vegan-friendly as well as dairy and gluten free, so it can appeal to a wider and more diverse audience, and especially to Millennial and Gen-Z consumers.
Since 1996, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice has been serving up the treats that our loyal fans can’t get enough of. That’s why we’re expanding our frozen dessert brand nationwide—everybody wants a bite. The success of our brand has been demonstrated on the market. And you have the chance to be a part of it. The Jeremiah’s franchise opportunity allows franchisees to work for themselves—but not by themselves. We will give you all the tools to meet your goals.
Scoop up your part of the Jeremiah’s brand by bringing a shop to your community. Reach out to our team today to take your first steps toward Jeremiah’s franchise ownership.
These figures reflect the 2019 operating results for 22 company- and affiliate-owned Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops that were open for all of 2019, as published in our May 11, 2020 Franchise Disclosure Document (“FDD”). We excluded from the results our single franchised shop because it was not open for all of 2019. Please refer to Item 19 of our FDD for all of the relevant details.
- Average unit volume means the 2019 average “Gross Sales” (as that term is defined in our FDD) for our 22 company- and affiliate-owned Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops that were open for all of 2019. During 2019, 10 of those 22 Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops (45%) had gross sales that equaled or exceeded that average. The median Gross Sales for the 22 Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops in 2019 was $589,397. Our FDD contains additional information about the Gross Sales of the 22 Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops during the first quarter of 2020, which reflected a drop in volume due to the global pandemic. Please refer to Item 19 of our FDD for all of the relevant details.
- Average return on investment is calculated as the average gross sales for 2019 (noted above) divided by high and low investment for a new in-line or stand-alone Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shop (taken from Item 7 of our May 11, 2020 FDD). The median ROI for 2019 was 1.15 to 2.40.
- Average gross profit means the 2019 average Gross Sales of our 22 Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops minus the average “Food and Paper Costs” and “Labor Costs” (as those terms are defined in the FDD), but not including occupancy. During 2019, 10 of the 22 Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops (45%) had gross profits that equaled or exceeded the average. The median gross profit for the 22 Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Shops in 2019 was $291,715. This figure does not account for additional costs that franchisees incur, such as ongoing royalties and marketing fees (added in, the average gross profit would be 43.2%). Please refer to Item 19 of our FDD for all of the relevant details.
A new franchisee’s results may differ from the represented performance. There is no assurance that you will do as well.
This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. Franchise offerings are only made through our Franchise Disclosure Document and compliance with applicable federal and state disclosure laws.
