How Profitable is a Jamba Franchise: Costs & Profits (2023)

With more than 800 stores across the US and abroad, Jamba (previously known as “Jamba Juice”) is one of the most popular smoothie franchises. It’s also quite popular among franchisees thanks to the low required investment of $414,562.

But is this really a good business? How much profits can you make with a Jamba franchise?

In this article we’re looking at Jamba and the information available in its latest Franchise Disclosure Document. More importantly, we will look at how much sales you can make, how much it really costs, and whether you should invest in a Jamba franchise. Let’s find out!

Key stats

Franchise fee	$35,500
Royalty fee	6.0%
Marketing fee	8.0%
Investment (mid-point)	$415,000
Average sales	$597,000
Sales to investment ratio	1.4x
Payback period	8 years
Minimum net worth	$300,000
Minimum liquid capital	$100,000

What is Jamba?

Jamba’s is a leading American restaurant chain that focuses on blended fruit and vegetable juices and smoothies. Today the chain has over 800 locations in 35 states and 6 countries around the world.

Founded in 1990 by Kirk Perron in California, Jamba offers freshly blended fruit and vegetable smoothies on the go, as well as made-to-order bowls, freshly squeezed juices and shots, boosts, and bites.

The brand started franchising in 1993 and is headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It is a subsidiary of Focus Brands, which also owns Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Carvel, and McAlister’s Deli.

Jamba franchises pros and cons

Pros

• Real estate and construction: Jamba’s has an experienced team of real estate experts to help its franchisees build the right Jamba’s restaurant for their market. It assists with site selection, restaurant design, and construction
• Higher purchasing power: Jamba’s is owned by Focus Brands, which controls over 6,000 restaurants. Franchisees can leverage the brand’s strength and gain higher purchasing power. They can get all the supplies from one international supply chain at reasonable commercial rates
• Experienced marketing team: Jamba’s has an experienced and dedicated marketing team to help its franchisees create awareness and market their local stores. Through data-driven marketing plans, review and performance analysis, regional advertising, social media, and email marketing campaigns, franchisees can reach a wide domestic and international market
• Multiple revenue streams: Franchisees get access to customer loyalty apps, delivery and takeout, and online ordering to attract more customers, upsell, and maximize their sales. This gives them income streams to increase revenue
• Franchise training: One benefit of starting a Jamba’s franchise is its comprehensive training. It offers 66 hours of on-the-job training and 22 hours of classroom training to franchisees, managers, and employees on how to successfully run a Jamba’s franchise
• Flexible store formats: Jamba’s offers franchisees the flexibility to operate a format store of their choice. Franchisees can choose a traditional store, a non-traditional store, a food truck, a robotic kiosk, or an Auntie Anne’s co-branded store

Cons

• No exclusive territory: The franchisor doesn’t offer franchisees exclusive territory. Franchisees face competition from franchises granted by the parent company or from competitive channels that the franchisor controls
• No franchise financing: The franchise does not offer direct or indirect financing to franchisees. It also does not guarantee any franchisee’s lease, obligation, or note
• No absentee ownership: Franchisees need to be actively involved in the day-to-day operations of their restaurants
• Competition: The juice industry is still growing. Jamba’s franchise faces a lot of competition from Smoothie King and Tropical Smoothie Cafe

How much does a Jamba franchise cost?

You would invest on average $414,562 to open a Jamba franchised restaurant. This includes the initial franchise fee of $35,500 ($10,500 for a food truck).

The investment presented here is an average for all types of Jamba restaurants, as such it varies. To give you an idea, you would need to invest 3 times as much for a traditional Jamba restaurant than for a Jamba food truck.

So, what are you paying for? Well, the investment covers things like construction and build-out costs, leasehold improvement, equipment, millwork, opening inventory, architectural fees,signage, insurance, business supplies, training expenses, etc.

Expense	Amount
Initial franchise fee	$35,500
Construction and build-out costs	$101,500  – $227,000
Equipment	$47,500 – $90,000
Licenses, permits	$500 – $5,700
Working capital (first 3 months)	$15,000 – $40,000
Initial inventory	$5,000 – $10,000
Other	$90,050 – $193,400
Total	$290,050 – $596,600

How much can you make with a Jamba franchise?

On average, a Jamba franchise makes $597,028 in sales per year. This number is the annual median sales of 570 franchises (only traditional stores) operating in 2020.

Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamba franchises’ sales have been relatively stable over 2019-2020 (most recent numbers) as you can see in the quarterly sales chart below.

How profitable is a Jamba franchise?

A Jamba franchise makes $89,137 in profits per year on average. This corresponds to a 12% EBITDA margin.

Yet, EBITDA means Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. Indeed, you can’t keep 12% of the total revenue in your pockets. Instead, you may need to deduct taxes, debt interest expenses, and other costs from this amount to calculate net earnings.

Profit-and-loss	Amount ($)	As % of sales
Sales	$731,285	100.0%
COGS	$152,546	21.0%
Staff	$231,196	32.0%
Advertising	$58,239	8.0%
Operating expenses	$104,510	14.0%
Rent	$76,743	11.0%
General and administrative	$18,913	3.0%
EBITDA	$89,137	12.0%

Is Jamba a good investment?

Now, as EBITDA stands at 12% of sales, we could reasonably assume net profits stands at 8-10%. This is where it gets tricky for Jamba.

Indeed, as per our analysis it would take on average 7.7 years for a franchisee to recoup her / his initial investment of $414,562. This is a long time and higher than the average for similar franchises.

Of course, the payback given above is an average of all Jamba franchises. So it’s possible that yours performs better than the average. Also, there are other considerations at play when choosing a franchise (like brand name, location & territory protection, experience, etc.).

Therefore, before you open a new Jamba franchise and invest the required $414,562 (average), make sure to prepare a financial plan. Download our template below and visualise your pro forma financial statements, your breakeven point and more.

How does it compare vs. other franchises?

Disclaimer: This content has been made for informational and educational purposes only. We do not make any representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the information presented in the article. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other professional advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, advertisement, or offer to buy or sell any franchises, securities, or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the franchise and/or securities laws of such jurisdiction.

All content in this article is information of a general nature and does not address the detailed circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing in the article constitutes professional and/or financial and/or legal advice, nor does any information in the article constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content in this article before making any decisions based on such information or other content.