Best Food & Beverage Franchises

17 brands ranked by Health Score — our composite of growth, fees, scale, and data transparency.

#	Brand	Investment	Royalty	Units	Growth	Health
1	Crumbl	$816K–$1.4M	8%	1,059	+8.22%	94
2	Scooter's Coffee	$955K–$1.5M	6%	849	+13.2%	94
3	Auntie Anne's	$156K–$638K	7%	1,193	+2.18%	89
4	Charleys Cheesesteaks	$204K–$694K	6%	813	+6.83%	89
5	McAlister's Deli	$750K–$1.8M	5%	560	+3.75%	88
6	Buffalo Wild Wings GO	$564K–$1.1M	6%	140	+43.57%	84
7	Cold Stone Creamery	$336K–$655K	6%	994	+4.12%	84
8	Marco's Pizza	$287K–$807K	5.5%	1,159	+4.04%	84
9	Nothing Bundt Cakes	$667K–$907K	6%	660	+18.07%	84
10	Nothing Bundt Cakes	$667K–$907K	6%	660	+18.6%	82
11	Panera Bread	$1.3M–$4.7M	5%	2,206	+1.59%	74
12	Taco Bell	$287K–$856K	5.5%	7,847	+2.12%	74
13	Denny's	$1.6M–$3.1M	4.5%	1,334	-5.19%	69
14	Jamba	$469K–$806K	7%	727	-0.96%	67
15	Applebee's	$2.9M–$4.7M	4%	1,510	-2.32%	64
16	Baskin-Robbins	$307K–$623K	5.9%	976	-0.2%	62
17	Schlotzsky's	$600K–$1.5M	6%	317	-2.84%	32

Food & beverage franchises outside the QSR category tend to be smaller-format, lower-investment concepts — bakeries, smoothie bars, ice cream shops, specialty snacks. Investment ranges are typically $200K-$500K. The appeal is simpler operations than a full QSR kitchen, but the trade-off is narrower daypart coverage (many are afternoon/evening-heavy) and seasonal demand swings. Brands with strong catering or delivery programs (Crumbl, Nothing Bundt Cakes) outperform single-channel concepts.

All data is extracted from official Franchise Disclosure Documents filed with state regulators. Investment ranges come from FDD Item 7; royalties from Item 6; unit counts and growth from Item 20. See our guide to reading an FDD for methodology details.

Compare Food & Beverage Franchises

Select any two brands above to see a detailed side-by-side comparison, or browse popular matchups:

Crumbl vs Scooter's Coffee Crumbl vs Auntie Anne's Scooter's Coffee vs Charleys Cheesesteaks Auntie Anne's vs Charleys Cheesesteaks