Food & Beverage

Ziggi's Coffee Franchise

Drive-thru, café-with-drive-thru, and mobile-unit coffee shops selling gourmet specialty coffee, espresso, tea, fruit smoothies, dirty sodas, and fresh sandwiches and wraps. Originated in Colorado and grew primarily on a drive-thru-first format, part of the same broader boom that produced Dutch Bros and 7 Brew.

Opening more locationsFounded 2016HQ: Mead, CO

Disclosed in the FDD's litigation section (Item 3)

As of the 2026 FDD, Ziggi's is a defendant in a pending arbitration (filed March 2026) brought by two former Indiana franchisees, alleging false or misleading financial performance representations made outside the FDD and failure to provide support, seeking rescission of their franchise agreements plus $1,400,000 in damages -- Ziggi's disputes the claims. The FDD also discloses two arbitrations Ziggi's itself filed in the past year against former franchisees for breach of contract and collection of amounts due. California DFPI itself shows no action on file.

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 Ziggi's Coffee'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

$40,000

Total to open

$315,830–$2,093,361

Ongoing royalty

6% of gross sales

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.

Your estimated annual revenue

Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Ziggi's Coffee's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.

Years of ownership

Total cost of ownership over 5 years

$615,830 – $2,393,361

Startup investment

$315,830–$2,093,361

Royalty per year (6%)

$60,000

Total royalty, 5yr

$300,000

When would you break even?

Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Ziggi's Coffee'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.

Estimated profit margin (% of revenue)

%≈ $80,000/year

Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Ziggi's Coffee'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

3.9–26.2 years

Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Ziggi's Coffee 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 Ziggi's Coffee 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

Growing

From Item 20 of Ziggi's Coffee's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.

+14

+22

+14

202320242025

Year	Franchised units, start	Franchised units, end	Net change
2023	57	71	+14
2024	71	93	+22
2025	93	107	+14

Most recent year (2025): gained 14 franchised units, ending the year at 107 total.

What you're actually signing up for

The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.

Training & ongoing support (Item 11)

Initial training is a 7-day (Monday-Sunday), ~52-hour program (~21 hours classroom, ~31.5 hours in-store), plus a ~18.5-hour post-opening online program. Once open, franchisees run their own ~225 man-hours of on-site staff training over the first 12 days. Ongoing support is funded through a Marketing and Technology Fee (currently 1% of Gross Sales, raisable to 2% on 30 days' notice) plus a required local-advertising spend (up to 1% of Gross Sales).

Territory protection (Item 12)

No exclusive territory at all -- explicitly no protected geographic area, and franchisees can't sell via internet/catalog channels either. The one real protection: a one-mile "Right of First Refusal Area," letting an existing franchisee match terms before Ziggi's places a new Fixed-Location Shop nearby (doesn't apply to Mobile Units, which get zero protection). Ziggi's also reserves broad rights to sell through grocery stores, Captive Audience Facilities (airports, stadiums, hospitals, etc.), and other channels inside or near a franchisee's own location without compensation.

Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)

10-year initial term with options for up to three successor 10-year terms. Termination-without-cause by the franchisor is narrow, not open-ended: only tied to a force majeure event lasting 6+ months. Curable defaults range from 72 hours (health/safety/sanitation violations) to 30 days (most others); a long list of violations count as non-curable. Disputes go to mandatory arbitration or litigation in Denver, Colorado, under Colorado law -- a real venue/law burden for a franchisee based elsewhere. Post-termination non-compete is 2 years within 10 miles.

How Ziggi's Coffee compares to other Food & Beverage franchises

Across the 52 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $860,899–$2,165,095, with royalties averaging around 5.6% of gross sales (based on the 48 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).

Dave's Hot Chicken

$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty

Slim Chickens

$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% 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

Kona Ice

$114,730–$228,601 · non-%-of-revenue 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

McDonald's

$1,470,500–$2,642,000 · 5% royalty

Subway

$263,000–$630,000 · 8% royalty

Taco Bell

$1,859,750–$4,312,200 · 5.5% royalty

Domino's Pizza

$231,450–$743,500 · 5.5% royalty

KFC

$2,107,575–$4,155,000 · 5% royalty

Burger King

$2,039,200–$4,730,600 · 4.5% royalty

Chick-fil-A

$317,521–$3,463,155 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Penn Station

$507,500–$858,750 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Nekter Juice Bar

$243,155–$647,160 · 6% royalty

Jimmy John's

$366,200–$733,500 · 6% royalty

Sonic Drive-In

$1,485,200–$2,522,900 · 5% royalty

Papa John's

$281,485–$890,267 · 5% royalty

Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs

$238,982–$697,322 · 5.5% royalty

Jack in the Box

$1,909,500–$4,041,500 · 5% royalty

Wendy's

$1,523,957–$2,992,000 · 4% royalty

Marco's Pizza

$286,477–$811,186 · 5.5% royalty

Pizza Hut

$846,000–$2,130,000 · 6% royalty

Chicken Salad Chick

$777,000–$998,500 · 5% royalty

Teriyaki Madness

$392,667–$1,121,405 · 6% royalty

Cold Stone Creamery

$390,675–$680,775 · 6% royalty

Scooter's Coffee

$1,163,650–$1,345,750 · 6% royalty

Nothing Bundt Cakes

$475,200–$994,100 · 6% royalty

Five Guys

$977,850–$1,375,750 · 6% royalty

Tim Hortons

$427,500–$3,312,500 · 6% royalty

7 Brew

$940,500–$2,283,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Swig

$608,400–$1,718,000 · 7% royalty

Culver's

$3,406,350–$10,294,100 · 4% royalty

Dairy Queen

$1,516,200–$2,543,050 · 4% royalty

Paris Baguette

$727,515–$1,860,550 · 5% royalty

Jollibee

$1,614,568–$4,589,057 · 5% royalty

Smoothie King

$329,850–$683,215 · 6% royalty

IHOP

$380,550–$3,735,850 · 4.5% royalty

Cinnabon

$256,950–$703,500 · 6% royalty

Ziggi's Coffee Franchise FAQ

How much does it cost to franchise a Ziggi's Coffee?

Based on Ziggi's Coffee's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $315,830–$2,093,361, including the $40,000 franchise fee. California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004689, effective June 26, 2026. FDD issuance date April 2, 2026.

What is the Ziggi's Coffee franchise fee and royalty rate?

The initial franchise fee is $40,000, and the ongoing royalty is 6% of gross sales, per the filing on record.

Is the Ziggi's Coffee franchise growing or shrinking?

Growing. Across 2023–2025, Ziggi's Coffee added a net 50 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.

Keep going

Ziggi's Coffee and Chick-fil-A are both food & beverage franchises; Ziggi's Coffee's total investment starts about $1,691 lower than Chick-fil-A's. Chick-fil-A Franchise
Ziggi's Coffee and Wingstop are both food & beverage franchises; Wingstop's total investment starts about $5,430 lower than Ziggi's Coffee's. Wingstop Franchise

Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004689, effective June 26, 2026. FDD issuance date April 2, 2026. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-02. 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.