Food & Beverage
Kona Ice Franchise
A mobile shaved-ice and beverage franchise built around a branded truck -- the Kona Entertainment Vehicle, or KEV -- that works schools, sports leagues, and community events rather than operating from a fixed storefront. Founded in Florence, Kentucky, operating similar mobile businesses since 2007 and franchising since 2008; franchised unit count grew every year in the FDD's three-year window, and the system took on its first company-owned units in 2024.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Kona Ice's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$15,000
Total to open
$114,730–$228,601
Ongoing royalty
Not a %-of-revenue fee -- see FDD
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Kona Ice's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Startup investment (royalty not included -- see below)
$114,730 – $228,601
Kona Ice doesn't charge a straightforward percentage-of-revenue royalty -- its FDD describes a different ongoing-fee structure instead. That cost isn't included in the total above; check the FDD directly for the real terms before using this figure to compare against other franchises.
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Kona Ice's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Kona Ice's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
1.4–2.9 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Kona Ice is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Kona Ice actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Kona Ice's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,476 | 1,670 | +194 |
| 2024 | 1,670 | 1,816 | +146 |
| 2025 | 1,816 | 1,929 | +113 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 113 franchised units, ending the year at 1,929 total.
How Kona Ice compares to other Food & Beverage franchises
Across the 19 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $758,099–$1,965,490, with royalties averaging around 5.7% of gross sales (based on the 18 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty
Slim Chickens$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% royalty
Ziggi's Coffee$315,830–$2,093,361 · 6% royalty
Crumbl$848,566–$1,472,533 · 8% royalty
Little Caesars$376,500–$1,769,200 · 6% royalty
Jamba$480,850–$941,300 · 6% royalty
Tropical Smoothie Cafe$300,000–$720,500 · 6% royalty
Playa Bowls$188,675–$636,458 · 6% royalty
Firehouse Subs$166,671–$950,351 · 6% royalty
Wingstop$310,400–$1,048,500 · 6% royalty
Jersey Mike's Subs$436,176–$1,162,228 · 6.5% royalty
Dunkin'$532,400–$1,832,500 · 5.9% royalty
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen$1,222,045–$3,923,245 · 5% royalty
Del Taco$1,461,200–$3,313,500 · 5% royalty
Blaze Pizza$757,000–$1,297,100 · 5% royalty
Church's Texas Chicken$1,202,400–$1,886,300 · 5% royalty
MOD Pizza$924,732–$1,220,633 · 5% royalty
Twin Peaks$2,959,000–$5,734,000 · 5% royalty
Keep going
- Kona Ice and Firehouse Subs are both food & beverage franchises; Kona Ice's total investment starts about $51,941 lower than Firehouse Subs's. Firehouse Subs Franchise
- Kona Ice and Playa Bowls are both food & beverage franchises; Kona Ice's total investment starts about $73,945 lower than Playa Bowls's. Playa Bowls Franchise
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00005142, filed 4/20/2026, effective 6/5/2026. FDD issued April 20, 2026. Item 5: $15,000 initial franchise fee per KEV. Item 6: royalty is not a percentage of sales -- it's a flat annual fee of $3,000 (years 1-2), $4,000 (years 3-6), and $5,000 (years 7-10) per KEV, plus a Brand Fund contribution currently $1,000/year per KEV and $200/year per piece of Additional Equipment (increasable up to 10%/year at Kona Ice's discretion, or more with a 75% Ad Council vote). Item 7: $114,730-$228,601 total initial investment for a single KEV. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets; company-owned outlets appear starting 2024. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-20. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.