Baked goods can cover a huge range of products that includes cookies, cupcakes, donuts, cake, and all kinds of other pastries, bread, muffins, biscuits, pretzels, bagels, and even kolaches. According to reports, the bakery café market in the US is now worth an eye – popping $11.2 billion, in part due to the rising popularity of breakfast on-the-go, and many of the companies on this list carry items that are thought of as good for breakfast.
Mass producing specialty or gourmet cookies is a very easy business to put into action. You can easily rent or secure commercial kitchen space, perfect the cookie baking process, design interesting packaging for the cookies, and you’re in business and ready to start profiting.
These cookies can be sold to food retailers on a wholesale basis, or directly to the public via a cookie sales kiosk located in a mall or public market. In addition, for the truly enterprising entrepreneur, vending machines can be bought and installed in high – traffic areas throughout the community to sell the cookies. Once started, the profit potential could prove to be outstanding for the creative and clever cookie maker.
In the United States, cookie franchises are also flourishing where many other types of snack franchises are failing right now. Maybe it’s because of the daintiness of the sweet treat in comparison to most other desserts that draw in health – conscious customers. Maybe it’s the incredible aroma that customers can’t help but stop for.
But irrespective of what the reason is for the surge in demand, the supply is rising to meet it in the form of new franchises and single location operations. Cookie franchisees can benefit greatly from knowing the standing and backgrounds of the top franchises in the industry.
11 Best Cookie Franchise Opportunities and Their Cost
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Nestle Tollhouse Café by Chip
In 2001, the Nestle Tollhouse Café by Chip was established by Ziad S. Dalal and Doyle P. Liesenfelt. The company gained fast success which was in part driven by the familiarity of the Nestle name. By 2014, Nestle Tollhouse Café by Chip had 90 locations open in America. The company ranked 262 on the Franchise 500 list.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $149,450 – $554,800
- Net – worth Requirement: $300,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $100,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $18,750 – $37,500
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6 percent
- Ad Royalty Fee: 1.5 percent
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Cookies by Design
The Cookies by Design concept was created in 1983 by Gwen Willhite. Cookies by Design offer customers a “cookie bouquet,” along with cookies and other dessert items. The company began franchising in 1987 and had about 97 stores throughout the country by 2014. Cookie by Design differentiates from competitors using the uniqueness of the products offered.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Franchise Fee: $30,000
- Total Investment: $117,500 to $207,000
- Working Capital: $15,000 to $20,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6.0 percent
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Crumb and Get It Cookie Company
Crumb and Get It Cookie Company was established by Chris and Kelly McMurray. The company started offering franchise opportunities in 2013, but as of 2014 had only one location in Radford, Virginia. Crumb and Get It Cookie Company offers customers the opportunity to create their own cookie by choosing the flavours and mix – ins.
When ordering at the store, customers can wait about ten minutes for the cookies to be freshly baked. Customers can also have the product shipped. Crumb and Get It Cookie Company gained a small claim to fame in 2012 when the founder politely declined Joe Biden’s request to make the store location a campaign stop.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $128,700 – $178,500
- Net – worth Requirement: $300,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $100,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $30,000 – $30,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6 percent
- Ad Royalty Fee: 2 percent
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TCBY and Mrs. Fields
Mrs. Fields is one of the biggest cookie retailers in the country. Most Mrs. Fields locations are joint enterprises with TCBY, which is owned by the same company. As of 2014, there were 526 Mrs. Fields locations throughout the United States. The company also offers cookies through retail outlets and a catalogue. Mrs. Fields Cookies was established in 1977 in California, but did not begin franchising for many years.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $200,000 – $492,152
- Net – worth Requirement: $250,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $100,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $25,000 – $35,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6 percent
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Great American Cookies Franchise Opportunity
Great American Cookies was established in Atlanta in 1977. The founders, Michael Cole and Arthur Karp, developed the business around a generations – old family recipe. The concept was a hit, and as of 2014, there were 319 retail locations in the United States.
As the first retail cookie store available in the United States, Great American Cookies has a large following and has long been a leader in the industry. Great American Cookies ranked #143 on the Franchise 500 list.
Financial Requirements
- Initial investments: $160,500 – $461,135
- Net – worth Requirement: $250,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $100,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $15,000 – $35,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6 percent
- Ad Royalty Fee: 1.5 percent
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Woops!
Woops is a bakeshop concept specializing in French macarons and other artisanal pastries. It offers 18 signature flavours of macarons, as well as changing seasonal flavours. Customers can select various combinations of flavours and quantities to be boxed up, and they can be used for corporate gifting, party favours, weddings, and all sorts of other events. Other sweet treats available include cookies, waffles, and alfajores.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $197,727
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $150,000
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Scooped Cookie Dough Bar
Owning a Scooped Cookie Dough Bar provides you an opportunity to partner with an industry leader in a highly competitive industry whose sales grow more and more annually. Scooped was established to share the owners love of cookie dough with the world.
They use fresh ingredients, pasteurized eggs and heat treated flour to ensure a safe to eat raw cookie dough experience. Think of it like an ice cream shop but instead of ice cream in the trays, its raw cookie dough!
Financial Requirements
- Total Investments: $60,000 – $150,000
- Initial Franchise fee: $29,900
- Minimum cash requirement: $59,600
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Breadsmith
Breadsmith knows how hard it is to find good bread in the US, especially if people are limited to what’s available at their local supermarkets. Therefore, this chain offers breads made the old – world way, by hand, from scratch, and without preservatives or additives. Each location features a European hearth stone oven weighing upwards of five tons.
Other baked goods available include sweet breads, coffee cakes, cookies, pastries, scones, biscotti, croissants, granola, crostatas, tarts, and much more. The company has more than 300 different recipes and gives franchisees the flexibility to pick and choose what it will offer. They can also choose to get into wholesaling to other markets in their local area.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $380,250 – $454,750
- Net – worth Requirement: $300,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $150,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $30,000 – $30,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 7 – 5 percent
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Le Macaron French Pastries
Le Macaron French Pastries needs people to get one thing straight from the get – go: a macaron and a macaroon are not the same thing, although some insist that they are! A macaroon is the well – known coconut cookie. A macaron is a French pastry – a meringue – based, melt – in – your – mouth confection that comes out like a very light cookie, usually put together in pairs with a filling in – between.
Note that the chain’s menu includes 21 different signature macarons and a selection of other French pastries, including savouries, éclairs, Madeleine, and pains au chocolats. Also available are full – sized cakes, French gelato, waffles, candies, and fine chocolates.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Investment: $84,350 – $361,500
- Net – worth Requirement: $250,000
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $75,000
- Initial Franchise Fee: $45,000
- Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6 percent
- Ad Royalty Fee: 1 percent
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Great Harvest
Great Harvest doesn’t just make its bread fresh every day; it makes the flour itself fresh every day. It really can’t get any fresher than that. The chain sources its wheat kernels from family farms, and then mills them on – site for the freshest possible flour.
Coupled with the seven different signature breads, the chain’s stores also offer several breakfast options (biscuits, sandwiches, muffins, scones, and cinnamon rolls), a café menu with five sandwiches and two salads, and a variety of baked goodies such as cookies, bars, brownies, and teacakes.
Financial Requirements
- Initial investments: $107,000 – $476,350
- Liquid Cash Requirement: $70,000
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Einstein Bros. Bagels
Einstein Bros. Bagels bakes fresh bagels every four hours, including seven gourmet bagels, six signature bagels, 11 classic bagels, and potato rolls. Customers can choose from among nine different double – whipped Shmear (cream cheese) options.
The menu also features 15 breakfast sandwiches and nine lunch sandwiches served on its bagels and potato rolls, as well as cookies, muffins, and other assorted pastries. The company is currently testing a potential new menu item called a Bagelrito – which is basically a full – on breakfast burrito (in a flour tortilla) stuffed inside Asiago bagel dough and baked.
Financial Requirements
- Initial Franchise Fee: $35,000
- Total Investment: $113,300 to $225,850
- Working Capital: $12,000 to $50,000
- Royalty Fee: 5.0 percent
This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise. It is for information purposes only. Ensure to carry out adequate research and consultations before making any investment.