Coffee Franchise Statistics: SBA Lending Monitor, Census Counts and FDD Costs for Snack and Beverage Bars

Latest quarter: SBA franchise loans to coffee and snack bars, April to June 2026

The latest quarter was slightly larger than a year earlier, with bigger loans. In FY2026 Q3 (April 1 to June 30, 2026), SBA approved 131 franchise-coded 7(a) and 504 loans to US snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars, 4.0% more than the 126 of FY2025 Q3, according to the SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA file as of June 30, 2026. Approved dollars rose 13.4% to $78.7 million, and the median loan rose 19.0% to $521,200.

All SBA loans to the sector, coded or not, fell 11.1% to 281. The franchise-coded share therefore rose to 46.6% from 39.9%. Part of that rise is coding, not borrowing: in FY2025 Q3 lenders were still coding franchise loans without a published SBA Franchise Directory (see the note below). Snack and beverage bars took 6.7% of all franchise-coded SBA loans in the quarter, vs 6.4% a year earlier.

Smoothie and juice bars had the most franchise-coded loans in the quarter (34), followed by frozen desserts (32) and coffee (28). Drive-thru-led coffee brands had 13 loans, vs 15 a year earlier. Quarterly counts this small move several points on a handful of loans; the fiscal-year series below is steadier. The SBA franchise loans report covers all industries.

Quarterly and fiscal-year series, FY2015 to FY2026: loans, dollars and the median loan

Franchise-coded lending to snack bars has grown in count and, faster, in loan size. Franchise-coded loans to the sector rose from 194 in FY2015 to 524 in FY2025 (170.1% more), and the median loan rose 92.5% to $500,000, in nominal dollars (SBA FOIA). Approved dollars went from $59.6 million to $325.1 million. From FY2015 through FY2026 Q3 the file holds 3,968 franchise-coded loans to the sector, $1,826.0 million in approvals.

Franchise borrowers take much larger loans than other snack-bar borrowers. In FY2025 the median franchise-coded loan was $500,000, vs $159,000 for loans without a franchise code. Most franchise loans fund new units: 67.2% of franchise-coded 7(a) loans from FY2020 to FY2026 Q3 were flagged as startups, vs 31.7% of other loans to the sector, and the median term was 120 months.

Two breaks in the series are reporting effects. First, lenders code franchise loans against the SBA Franchise Directory, which SBA stopped publishing when its affiliation rule took effect on May 11, 2023 (Federal Register 2023-07173). The franchise-coded share of sector loans fell from 51.6% (October 2021 to May 10, 2023) to 34.8% (October 2023 to February 2025) and recovered to 49.4% from June 2025, after SOP 50 10 version 8 took effect on June 1, 2025. SBA now says brands that meet the FTC franchise definition must be in the Directory to obtain SBA financing. Second, the file has no approvals at all dated October 2025, which depresses FY2026 Q1 (74 franchise-coded loans).

Coffee franchise statistics from the Census: franchised share and owner type, 2007 to 2017

About one in three snack and beverage bars is a franchise unit, and that share has held steady since 2007. The 2017 Economic Census counted 63,247 US snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars, of which 21,011 (33.2%) were franchise establishments (EC1700FRAN). The industry (NAICS 722515) covers coffee shops, doughnut, bagel, pretzel and cookie shops, ice cream parlors and juice bars (Census NAICS definition). The share was 33.1% in 2007 (EC0700CFRA1) and 30.1% in 2012 (EC1200CFRA1).

Among the four restaurant industries, only limited-service restaurants were more franchised in 2017 (57.3%); cafeterias and buffets were 21.5% and full-service restaurants 12.5%. Across all 241 industries with at least 1,000 establishments in the franchise file, snack bars ranked 10th by franchise share. This part of the angle holds. The restaurant franchise statistics report covers the limited-service and full-service industries and state detail.

Franchise snack bars are almost all franchisee-owned: 19,708 of 21,011 in 2017 (93.8%), vs 87.2% in limited-service restaurants. Growth from 2012 to 2017 came disproportionately from franchises, which rose 27.4% while bars without a franchise code rose 10.1%, after franchise units had slipped 1.4% from 2007 to 2012.

2017 is the latest US franchise count. The Census Bureau’s API catalog lists a 2017 franchise status dataset (ecnfran) but no 2022 equivalent (api.census.gov, 2022), so no newer establishment-level franchise share exists for this industry. The firm-level Annual Business Survey stops at 4-digit NAICS 7225, where 19.6% of responding restaurant firms said they operated a franchise in 2023 (2024 ABS) (ABS AB2300CSCB01); it cannot isolate coffee or snack bars. For trend context, BLS counted 87,158 private snack-bar establishments in 2025, 62.7% more than in 2015, vs 19.1% growth for limited-service restaurants (BLS QCEW). QCEW has no franchise flag.

Franchise units vs independents: receipts, payroll and staff per location

Franchise units take in a little more per location than independents, and employ more people at lower pay per head. In 2017 a franchise snack bar averaged $637,169 in sales receipts, 5.9% more than the $601,949 of bars without a franchise code (2017 Economic Census). The gap was 9.8% in 2007 and 4.8% in 2012. In limited-service restaurants, franchise units took in 1.586 times as much per establishment in 2017, so the franchise premium in receipts is far smaller for snack bars.

Franchise bars had 12.0 paid employees per establishment vs 9.5, and annual payroll per employee of $13,635 vs $16,091, consistent with more part-time staff (the Census counts part-time employees). Payroll per establishment was 1.070 times the independent level. Franchisee-owned units took in $646,960 each and franchisor-owned units $489,084.

The angle said franchise units out-earn independents. The data supports only higher receipts, by 5.9% in 2017; the Census does not measure profit, and royalties and fund fees come out of franchise receipts. The comparison group also includes bars that did not answer the franchise question. For the wider comparison across industries, see franchise vs independent business.

Coffee vs donut vs frozen dessert vs smoothie: the mix in SBA franchise codes

Frozen desserts lead by loan count, coffee leads by dollars. From FY2015 to FY2026 Q3, 1,117 franchise-coded loans (28.2%) went to frozen dessert concepts, 978 (24.6%) to coffee, 841 (21.2%) to smoothie and juice bars, 406 to cookie, bakery and sweets concepts, 286 to tea and boba and 100 to donut shops (SBA FOIA). Coffee loans are larger (median $502,300 vs $313,000 for frozen desserts), so coffee took 34.9% of dollars.

Since FY2020 coffee has the largest share of loans as well (27.8%, vs 22.9% for frozen desserts). Coffee-concept loans rose from 39 in FY2015 to 145 in FY2023 and 127 in FY2025.

The mix is inferred from 492 SBA franchise codes on the sector’s loans, classified by brand name with written rules (scripts/subcats.py); only counts are reported, not brand rankings. Dunkin’ codes (59 loans, including Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins combination codes) are counted as coffee; moving them to donuts would shift the coffee share by 1.5 points. Loans without a franchise code, and franchise loans coded to other NAICS industries, are not in these counts.

Are drive-thru coffee franchises drawing more SBA lending?

Drive-thru coffee drew a rising share of SBA lending until FY2022, then the share fell. Eight drive-thru-led coffee brands (classified from each brand’s own description of its format; see methodology) took 2.6% of franchise-coded snack-bar loans in FY2015, 20.0% in FY2022 and 8.3% in FY2026 Q1 to Q3 (SBA FOIA). Their share of dollars went from 1.6% to 34.7% and back to 17.6%.

Drive-thru loans are large: the median was $1,052,300 in FY2024 to FY2026 Q3, vs $456,500 for all other franchise-coded snack-bar loans, so a few loans move the dollar share. About half of coffee-concept loans went to drive-thru-led brands in FY2025 (51.2%). Industry researcher World Coffee Portal describes a thriving US drive-thru sector and counts 45,227 branded coffee shop outlets (Project Cafe USA 2026); that count covers branded chains, franchised or not.

Verdict on the angle: drive-thru coffee’s SBA share rose from FY2015 to FY2022 and has fallen since. SBA borrowing is only one funding channel, and larger drive-thru operators may use other financing, so this is a statement about SBA loans, not about unit growth.

What coffee and snack franchise FDDs charge: Item 7, royalty, ad fund, territory and turnover

Snack-bar franchises cost less to open than other food franchises, but charge similar or slightly higher fees. Across 11 current FDDs (six from the site’s 259-FDD Minnesota sample and five from California DFPI filings), the median Item 7 total investment ran from $391,500 to $647,160. For 21 other food brands in the site’s sample the median high end was $1,071,500. The widest range was a drive-through coffee franchise at $672,000 to $1,532,000 (The Human Bean FDD, 2026), where the high end includes building a new drive-through.

Initial franchise fees ran $25,000 to $60,000 (median $40,000). Ten of the 11 charge a percentage royalty, from 4 to 8% of sales (median 6%, vs 5% for other food brands); one coffee franchisor charges no royalty and earns from coffee and supply sales. The brand or advertising fund median was 2%. Royalty plus fund had a median of 8% of sales, before local marketing and technology fees. See franchise royalty rates for all sectors.

Territory: 10 of 11 FDDs state that the franchisee will not receive an exclusive territory, though most promise not to place another same-brand unit within a set area. Turnover: the median one-year exit rate (terminations, non-renewals, reacquisitions and ceased operations as a share of franchised outlets at the start of the year, FDD Item 20) was 4.2%, vs 6.1% for other food brands, and the median transfer rate was 6.4%. The FTC notes that Item 20 shows growth and owner turnover in a system (FTC buying guide). Closures across sectors are tracked in franchise closure rates.

What to watch next quarter

Next update: after SBA posts the FOIA file as of September 30, 2026 (FY2026 Q4), usually about a month after quarter end. Items to watch:

• Whether FY2026 Q4 keeps the franchise-coded share near 49.4% now that the Directory is published again.
• Whether full-year FY2026 franchise-coded loans pass FY2025’s 524 after the October 2025 gap; FY2026 Q1 to Q3 stood at 362.
• Whether the median franchise-coded loan stays above the FY2025 median of $500,000 (FY2026 Q3: $521,200).
• Whether drive-thru-led coffee brands recover share after 8.3% of loans in FY2026 Q1 to Q3.
• New FDDs issued in spring 2027 with FY2026 Item 20 counts.

Where the data stops

Each source answers a different question, and none of them covers every coffee shop.

• Census franchise counts stop in 2017 and do not split coffee shops from other snack bars.
• SBA counts are approvals, not disbursements, and only cover SBA borrowers. The franchise code depends on the lender, and coding fell while the Directory was unpublished.
• Sub-categories come from brand names; a brand that sells coffee and food may sit in one class.
• The 11 FDDs are a slice, not a census of franchisors: the Minnesota sample plus five California filings that downloaded. One coffee FDD (a drive-thru kiosk brand) timed out at DFPI and is excluded.
• No Item 19 or earnings figures are used. This page is not investment, legal or tax advice.