Franchise Cost Index — Food & Beverage
Part of: Franchise Cost Index — this page covers food, restaurant, and beverage franchises. Publisher: Franchise KI is a franchise consultancy; the figures below are research data drawn from franchisors' own Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs), published so buyers and researchers can verify them. Census date: 2026-10-27
How much does a Food & Beverage franchise cost?
Across the 998 Food & Beverage brands whose FDD states a total investment range, the median total initial investment is $275,250 – $616,750 (Item 7). The median midpoint is $455,759, the middle 50% of brands fall between midpoints of $225,056 and $862,375, and the median franchise fee is $35,000 (middle 50%: $25,000–$40,000, n = 773).
Distribution — Food & Beverage (N = 998)
| Measure | Q1 (25th pct) | Median | Q3 (75th pct) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Item 7 low end | $130,000 | $275,250 | $499,580 |
| Item 7 high end | $305,100 | $616,750 | $1,196,475 |
| Range midpoint | $225,056 | $455,759 | $862,375 |
Entry costs within Food & Beverage
Brands grouped by the low end of their Item 7 range:
| Entry (Item 7 low) | Brands | Share of category |
|---|---|---|
| <$50k | 143 | 14.3% |
| $50k–$100k | 67 | 6.7% |
| $100k–$250k | 246 | 24.6% |
| $250k–$500k | 292 | 29.3% |
| $500k–$1M | 140 | 14.0% |
| >$1M | 110 | 11.0% |
A representative brand
The Food & Beverage brand closest to the category median midpoint is 16 HANDLES FRANCHISING at $249,500 – $663,500, franchise fee $30,000 — one concrete row from dataset.csv sitting at the centre of this category's distribution. Individual brands spread widely in both directions from the median; the quartile table above, not any single brand, is the benchmark.
Coverage and method for this page
This category page covers 998 of the 1130 Food & Beverage brands in the Franchise KI catalog; brands whose extraction does not state both ends of the Item 7 range are excluded, never estimated. Method in brief: each figure is the total initial investment range disclosed in Item 7 of that brand's FDD of record, as extracted into the Franchise KI catalog. A field an FDD does not state stays empty — no estimates are used. Full method: Methodology. Every brand named above is a row in dataset.csv.
Franchise Cost Index · Franchise KI · Census 2026-10-27 · Flagship · Methodology · Dataset (CSV)