How much does a Ben & Jerry's franchise cost?
Opening a Ben & Jerry's franchise takes a total initial investment of $238,800 to $550,800, according to the brand's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. The FDD's Item 19 reports median reported gross sales of $612,025 across 124 outlets.
The FDD describes franchises for Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops. Category: Food & Beverage.
Item 7
What it costs to open a Ben & Jerry's franchise
The franchisor's own estimated initial investment, as disclosed in its 2025 FDD. The total is $238,800 to $550,800. Each line below carries the FDD page it was read from.
Where the money goes
The largest costs are Leasehold Improvements & Construction ($85,000 to $230,000), Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment, Casework, and Smallwares ($65,000 to $135,000), and Additional Funds (3 months) ($50,000 to $75,000).
The initial franchise fee is $8,000 to $39,500.
Our arithmetic from the Item 7 table below.
| Expenditure | Low | High | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary Agreement Deposit2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $5,000 | $10,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Initial Franchise Fee2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $8,000 | $39,500 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Plans, Development & Permits2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $3,500 | $12,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Leasehold Improvements & Construction2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $85,000 | $230,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment, Casework, and Smallwares2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $65,000 | $135,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Signage2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $5,000 | $17,500 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Professional Fees2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $3,000 | $6,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| POS2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $1,800 | $2,300 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Online Ordering System Hardware2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $1,000 | $1,500 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Internet Connectivity, and Telephone2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 | $1,000 | $1,500 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20 |
| Deposits2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 | $3,000 | $8,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 |
| Initial Training2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 | $1,000 | $3,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 |
| Inventory2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 | $8,000 | $14,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 |
| Insurance2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 | $500 | $2,500 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 |
| Grand Opening Advertising2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 | $3,000 | $3,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 |
| Additional Funds (3 months)2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 | $50,000 | $75,000 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 21 |
| Total estimated initial investment2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20-21 | $238,800 | $550,800 | 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20-21 |
About this total: The printed total was re-read off page 21 and is what the document prints; it does not equal the sum of the listed rows when the printed ranges are added.
Source Ben & Jerry's, 2025 FDD, Item 7, p. 20-21, via Public FDD bucket (storage.googleapis.com/franchiseindx_fdds) (source record). Figures read and verified 2026-09-27.
Item 19
What Ben & Jerry's franchisees actually report earning
Median reported Gross Sales
$612,025
Ben & Jerry's' 2025 FDD, Item 19, for the 2024; the 52-week period ending December 31, 2024. Basis: Scoop Shops open all 12 months in 2024.
Sample size: 124 outlets. The FDD also reports average reported gross sales in 2024 of $664,319. We lead with the median because an average is pulled upward by the strongest outlets; the median is the middle outlet.
What the franchisor excluded from this figure
- Chart 1 excludes 15 Scoop Shops that had been open for less than the 52-week period ending December 31, 2024 because they opened for the first time or permanently closed during that period, and 2 Scoop Shops that were closed for 1 or more months due to weather.
- Charts 1 and 2 exclude Satellite Shops; 15 Satellite Shops were operating as of December 31, 2024.
- Charts 1 and 2 exclude Test Shops; 2 Test Shops were in operation as of December 31, 2024.
- Charts 1 and 2 exclude Special Venue Scoop Shops, including Shops operating under the former Food Service Provider Franchise Agreement.
- Charts 1 and 2 exclude two Company-Owned scoop shops in Vermont.
This is a disclosure of what some existing outlets reported, not a projection of what a new Ben & Jerry's outlet would earn. Your results will differ.
Source Ben & Jerry's, 2025 FDD, Item 19, p. 69-70, via Public FDD bucket (storage.googleapis.com/franchiseindx_fdds) (source record). Figures read and verified 2026-09-27.
Item 20
How many Ben & Jerry's outlets there are, and how many closed
Ben & Jerry's ended 2024 with 152 franchised outlets and 2 company-owned outlets. In that year 10 franchised outlets opened and 7 left the system.
Three years at a glance
From 2022 through 2024, Ben & Jerry's opened 15 franchised outlets and 24 outlets left the system. That is a net loss of 9, from 161 to 152 franchised outlets. Of the outlets that left, 24 closed for other reasons.
On average, about 5.2% of franchised outlets left the system each year, roughly 1 in 19.
Our arithmetic from the FDD's Item 20 table below. "Left the system" counts every outlet the franchisor reports as terminated, not renewed, bought back, or closed for other reasons.
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 149 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 152 | 2025 FDD, Item 20, p. 77 |
| 2023 | 155 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 149 | 2025 FDD, Item 20, p. 77 |
| 2022 | 161 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 155 | 2025 FDD, Item 20, p. 77 |
Source Ben & Jerry's, 2025 FDD, Item 20, p. 77, via Public FDD bucket (storage.googleapis.com/franchiseindx_fdds) (source record). Figures read and verified 2026-09-27.
Compare
How Ben & Jerry's compares with other Food & Beverage franchises
Measured against the 256 Food & Beverage franchises on this site, using each brand's own FDD.
- Cost to open. The middle of Ben & Jerry's' estimated range is $394,800. It costs less to open than 74% of Food & Beverage franchises here.
- Outlets leaving each year. 5.2% for Ben & Jerry's. That is lower than 53% of the 165 Food & Beverage franchises with at least 10 outlets.
- Three-year growth. Ben & Jerry's' franchised system shrank 5.6%. The typical Food & Beverage franchise here grew 5.0%.
- Earnings disclosure. 152 of the 256 Food & Beverage franchises here publish earnings figures in Item 19. Ben & Jerry's is one of them.
Our arithmetic from each brand's Item 7 and Item 20. Growth and departure comparisons leave out brands with fewer than 10 outlets, where one opening or closure distorts the figures. See every Food & Beverage franchise side by side.
Alert me when Ben & Jerry's files a new FDD
Franchisors reissue their FDD at least once a year, and the Item 7 and Item 19 figures move. Leave an email and we will send you Ben & Jerry's' updated numbers when the next document is published, plus the brand-comparison worksheet.
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