# Baskin-Robbins Item 19 Deep Dive: $521K Median Across 844 Shops

> Baskin-Robbins Item 19: $521K median ($441K P25, $776K P75) across 844 franchised shops. Why the low absolute revenue still works at the low end of the investment range — and where the category headwinds bite.

**Last updated**: 2026-06-05
**URL**: https://vetmyfranchise.com/blog/baskin-robbins-item-19-deep-dive?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md

> **Quick answer:** Baskin-Robbins' Item 19 reports a $521K median across 844 franchised shops — a low absolute number that still works at the low end of the $307K-$627K investment range. The AUV-to-investment ratio runs ~1.1× at the midpoint and 1.5× at the low end. The 1.76× P75/P25 ratio means there's real distribution between strong and weak sites — site selection drives a much bigger share of the outcome here than at brands with tighter cohort spreads.

## The Disclosure

Baskin-Robbins' most recent Item 19:

| Metric | Value |
|---|---:|
| Sample size | 844 franchised shops |
| Sample criteria | All franchised units (no tenure filter) |
| Median annual revenue | $521,177 |
| P25 annual revenue | $440,648 |
| P75 annual revenue | $775,806 |
| P75/P25 ratio | 1.76 |
| Total system units | 976 |
| Total investment (Item 7) | $307,400 - $626,700 |
| Franchise fee | $25,000 |
| Royalty rate | 0.5% to 5.9% |
| Ad fund | 2.5% to 5.0% |

The disclosure is methodologically conservative: 844 franchised units, no tenure filter, all-franchised cohort. The cohort spread is wider than peers like [Club Pilates](/franchise/club-pilates-franchise-spv-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) (1.40 P75/P25) or [Crumbl](/franchise/crumbl-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) (similar), reflecting real differences between strong-trade-area and weak-trade-area shops. A buyer in the franchise should expect the site-selection variable to dominate the eventual outcome.

The royalty structure is unusual: a 0.5% to 5.9% range. The variable royalty rate is typically tied to specific product categories (ice cream vs. cake vs. beverages) and franchise agreement terms negotiated at different historical points. New franchise agreements tend toward the higher end of the published range; legacy agreements (franchisees who acquired shops decades ago) often sit lower.

## Why the Absolute Revenue Is Low — and Why It Still Works

Baskin-Robbins produces a median annual revenue ($521K) that's roughly a third of comparable QSR concepts. Three structural reasons explain this:

**Lower customer frequency.** A Baskin-Robbins customer visits an average of perhaps 8-12 times per year. A Dunkin' customer visits 50-150+ times per year. Frequency drives volume; volume drives AUV. Ice cream is treat-frequency, not meal-frequency.

**Lower average ticket.** Typical Baskin-Robbins transaction runs $7-$12 (a couple of scoops, a sundae, or a quart). Typical meal QSR ticket is $12-$18 or more. The product itself has structurally lower ticket size.

**Narrower daypart.** Baskin-Robbins skews heavily to afternoon, evening, and weekend traffic. Morning hours produce minimal revenue (the brand has experimented with breakfast and coffee tie-ins with limited success). Compare to a multi-daypart QSR that captures breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner.

The reason the deal still works is that **the investment scales down with the revenue**. A $307K-$627K investment range is meaningfully lower than [Dunkin'](/franchise/dunkin-donuts-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) ($501K-$1.95M), [Wingstop](/franchise/wingstop-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) ($342K-$1.0M at the new range), or most fast-casual concepts. At the low end of the Baskin-Robbins range, the AUV-to-investment ratio is competitive even with the modest absolute revenue.

The deal is a low-revenue, low-investment, low-complexity franchise. It's not going to make anyone rich, but for an operator who prefers simpler operations and lower capital risk, it produces real cash flow at acceptable returns.

## The Cake Business Is the Hidden Lever

The single biggest revenue-mix differentiator among Baskin-Robbins shops is the cake business. Shops with strong custom-cake and decorated-cake programs can do $100K-$200K of incremental annual revenue from cakes alone — the difference between the P25 ($441K) and the median ($521K) is largely explained by cake mix.

The cake business has favorable economics on top of the revenue impact:
- Higher contribution margin than scoops (less perishability waste, higher pricing power per labor hour)
- Drives event-based traffic (birthdays, holidays, celebrations)
- Captures higher household-share of spend (vs. impulse ice cream purchases)
- Creates customer relationships that drive repeat visits in non-event occasions

For a buyer, the implication is that **the cake business is the lever you can pull**. Brand standards include cake programs, but the operating intensity an owner-operator puts behind cake sales (local marketing, event-occasion targeting, retail merchandising) varies widely across the system. The P25-to-P75 spread is largely the cake-execution spread.

## How Baskin-Robbins Compares to Ice Cream / Dessert Peers

| Brand | Sample | Median AUV | Investment | AUV/Investment |
|---|---:|---:|---|---:|
| Baskin-Robbins | 844 | $521K | $307K-$627K | 1.1× |
| [Crumbl](/franchise/crumbl-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) | 858 | $1.09M | $574K-$818K | 1.6× |
| Cold Stone Creamery | larger | $400K-$600K (est.) | $315K-$500K | 1.3× |
| Dairy Queen | larger | $700K-$1.2M (est.) | $1.1M-$2M | 0.7× |
| Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop | smaller | $400K-$700K (est.) | $200K-$450K | 1.5× |
| [Carvel](/franchise/carvel-franchisor-spv-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) | smaller | $400K-$600K (est.) | $300K-$500K | 1.3× |

Baskin-Robbins sits in the middle of the dessert franchise peer set on absolute AUV and ratio. [Crumbl](/franchise/crumbl-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) is the standout — higher revenue and stronger ratio — but [Crumbl](/franchise/crumbl-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) is in a different category (warm cookies, dine-out occasion) with different operating intensity. The traditional ice cream subcategory (Baskin-Robbins, Cold Stone, [Carvel](/franchise/carvel-franchisor-spv-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md)) has converged on similar economics: modest absolute revenue, modest ratios, simpler operating model than meal QSR.

For deeper category context, see our [Crumbl Item 19 cohort analysis](/blog/crumbl-item-19-cohort-analysis?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) and broader [dessert franchise breakdown](/blog/best-food-franchises-under-100k?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md).

## Year-One Reality

A new Baskin-Robbins shop in months 1-12 typically generates:

- Months 1-3: $30K-$45K monthly revenue (opening, awareness build, first event-cake season)
- Months 4-6: $32K-$48K monthly revenue (normalizing, summer peak begins)
- Months 7-9: $35K-$52K monthly revenue (summer peak, repeat customer cycle)
- Months 10-12: $28K-$42K monthly revenue (off-season normalize)
- Annualized year-one: $340K-$420K

That's 65-80% of the system median. Baskin-Robbins ramps faster than most franchises because:
1. The brand has 60+ years of U.S. market presence — awareness is already established in most trade areas
2. The category (ice cream, novelties) is a low-consideration purchase with minimal customer switching cost
3. Seasonal traffic patterns (summer surge, holiday cake season) create natural marketing moments

Year two typically reaches the system median or close to it. The shops that materially exceed the median (P75 territory at $776K+) are those with strong cake-program execution, high-foot-traffic locations, and operators who treat the shop as a community-event business rather than a passive retail format.

## What This Means for Buyers

- **The median is achievable but unremarkable.** $521K is modest absolute revenue. The deal works because the investment scales down with it — not because the revenue is impressive.
- **Underwrite at the low end of investment.** A $320K-$370K conversion site produces materially better unit economics than a $580K-$620K full-build site at the same revenue. The brand-strength advantage is in the site-selection optionality more than in raw AUV.
- **The cake business is the lever.** P25-to-P75 spread is largely cake-execution spread. Operators who under-invest in the cake program land at P25; operators who treat cakes as their primary growth lever land at P75+.
- **Category headwinds are real but slow.** Traditional ice cream has lost some occasion share to newer dessert formats ([Crumbl](/franchise/crumbl-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md), Insomnia Cookies, premium frozen yogurt). The category is not collapsing, but it's not growing either. Site selection now matters more than in the brand's growth-era decades.
- **Operator profile fits semi-passive ownership.** Multi-unit operators, owners with day-job income, and partnerships often run Baskin-Robbins better than owner-operator setups — the operating complexity is low enough that absentee or semi-absentee models work.

For broader category context, see our [dessert franchise breakdown](/blog/best-food-franchises-under-100k?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md) and [Item 19 average vs. median](/blog/item-19-average-vs-median-survivorship-bias?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md). For brand-specific cost detail, the live [Baskin-Robbins franchise page](/franchise/baskin-robbins-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md).

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## Brands mentioned in this post

- [Crumbl](/franchise/crumbl-franchising-llc?utm_source=claude&utm_medium=ai_referral&utm_campaign=vmf_agent_md)
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