Ice cream might seem like it’s only good during summer and thus gives the impression of limited business opportunity. However, that is not true because brands like Twistee Treat have business all year round and have grown to many locations in the United States.
Twistee Treat is a famous soft-serve ice cream business with a wide selection of quality products. Due to their loyal customer base, a wide selection of products, and popular name, you might want to be a Twistee Treat franchisee. This article will discuss whether Twistee Treat is a franchise and what you can expect.
About Twistee Treat and Twistee Treat History
Twistee Treat is an American ice cream corporate chain headquartered in Florida. They specialize in serving soft-serve ice cream, and they are famous for their soft-serve ice cream cone-shaped restaurant buildings.
The restaurant was founded in 1983 but went bankrupt soon after, and the original restaurant offered franchising.
Once the first company went bankrupt, another one was founded in 1996, and they reached over 30 locations in just a couple of years, and that company also went bankrupt.
A new company was formed in 2010, and that company bought all the rights and patents to the third company from the previous franchisees. Now, they have over 35 locations, and all of them are company-owned and not franchised.
Franchise Model Table
| Cost Or Fees | Amount |
|---|---|
| Franchise | NO |
| Franchise-Fee | NO |
| Estimated Outlets | 36 |
How Much Does It Cost To Open A Twistee Treat Franchise?
There are no associated costs to open a Twistee Treat franchise because they are not a franchise. When or if the company decides to franchise, they will provide an estimated number in their franchise disclosure agreement.
Why Doesn’t Twistee Treat Offer Franchising?
There is no specific reason why Twistee Treat is not offering a franchise. On their website, it is stated that all their stores are company-owned and managed by the corporation itself. There are generally a couple of main reasons behind the decision not to franchise.
This could be to keep all the name rights within the company or to make sure that quality is the same everywhere. However, the exact reason might be different.
Profit & Revenue
There is no net information about Twistee Treat’s profit and revenue as a company. There are some estimations online from several reports.
These estimations show us that the annual revenue of Twistee Treat is around $80 million. There is no information or estimation about the net profit, but if we use an average profit margin of 10%, we can estimate that it could be around $8 million.
What Are Some Alternatives To Twistee Treat?
Twistee Treat is not a franchise, but there are several other brands in the same industry that franchise actively. Here are some of those brands that you can franchise with.
1. Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen is an American multinational fast-food chain that offers a unique dessert treat and is one of the largest chains in the world. They were founded in 1940, and now they have over 6,000 restaurants in the US, Canada, and other countries. Their menu includes a variety of soft serve cones, pints, quarts, sundaes, and the famous Dilly Bar.
Dairy Queen actively offers franchising. You need between $1.5 million to $2.5 million to open a Dairy Queen franchise. This cost includes the $45,000 franchise fee that you pay in a lump sum at the beginning. You also need to pay a 4% royalty fee each month.
2. Baskin Robbins
Baskin Robbins is another American multinational chain focusing on ice cream and specialty cakes. They are owned by Inspire Brands, and they have over 8,000 locations worldwide. They were founded in 1945 and have been franchising actively since 1948. Baskin Robbins is famous for its ice cream and cake offerings.
The expected initial investment to open a Baskin Robbins is between $293,840 and $642,360. This includes the $25,000 franchise fee that you pay in the beginning. There is also a 5.9% royalty fee from your gross sales that you need to pay.
3. Tutti Frutti
Tutti Frutti is one of the largest frozen self-serve yogurt retailers specializing in various frozen yogurt flavors and toppings. They are a Canadian brand with 680 locations in over 30 countries, including the United States. They franchise both domestically and internationally for those interested.
The franchise fee to become a Tutti Frutti franchisee is $25,000, and the expected average initial investment is between $302,000 and $427,000. The expected average investment also includes the $25,000 franchise fee. There is also a royalty fee of 5% that you pay from your gross revenue each month.
Potential franchisees interested in ice cream can also investigate opportunities with Rita Franchise, Milky Way, Kona Ice Franchise, Yogurtland and Menchie’s Franchise.
Comparison
| Name | Franchise Fee | Royalty Fee | Initial Investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marble Slab Creamery | $25,000 | 6% | $190,800-$402,150 |
| Cold Stone Creamery | $8,000-$27,000 | 6% | $53,200-$602,775 |
| Twistee Treat | NO | NO | NO |
Conclusion
Twistee Treat is not a big soft-serve ice cream chain. They only have around 35 stores in the United States, and they do not franchise.
The reason why they don’t franchise is not known, and we don’t know whether there are plans to franchise in the future or not.
However, there are alternatives that you can go for, like Baskin Robbins or Cold Stone Creamery, which specializes in ice cream, like Twistee Treat and franchises actively.
The ice cream market is quite big, and going with one of these alternatives might be a good option if you want to get involved in the industry.
FAQs
Why is Twistee Treat not a franchise?
There is no official information about the reason why they are not a franchise. Twistee Treat went bankrupt twice, and in both of those cases, they were offering franchising. It might be that they want to take things more controlled this time.
Does Twistee Treat plan to offer franchising in the future?
Twistee Treat didn’t make any communications about their plan for franchising. We don’t know whether they will offer franchising or not.
What is the Twistee Treat franchise fee?
Since Twistee Treat is not a franchise, there is also no franchise fee associated.
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