Playa Bowl Franchise in 2024: Costs, Fee & FDD
This article is based on the video featured above, originally recorded for Vetted Biz Youtube Channel.
Playa Bowls Franchise offers a quick-serve restaurant featuring acai bowls, pitaya bowls, coconut bowls, chia pudding bowls, oatmeal bowls, smoothies, juices, and other healthy food options. Playa Bowls is “your slice of summer, anytime”. Also caters to events to bring the summer vibe to any occasion. There are currently 28 company-owned restaurants and 188 franchised-run locations.
The Playa Bowls concept is the vision of founders Robert Giuliani & Abby Taylor. They are both Jersey Shore natives & long-time surfers. They were inspired by the ideas by chasing summer on surf trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, California & Hawaii. Playa Bowls was founded in June of 2016 in New Jersey.
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Notable Playa Bowls Investors:
In a 60/40 split, Playa Bowls co-founders Rob Giuliani and Abby Taylor received a majority investment from Tamarix Equity Partners and Pacific General Holdings. Giuliani will remain in his position as CEO and Taylor will remain as a chief marketing officer.
How Much is a Playa Bowls Franchise?
A Playa Bowls Franchise is currently $35,000.
Playa Bowls Restaurant Franchise Fee
The initial license fee for a Playa Bowls franchise is $35,000. This is the upfront fee that must be paid when opening a Playa Bowls franchise.
If you qualify to develop and operate multiple Playa Bowls Restaurants, then you will pay Playa Bowls a development fee equal to 100% of the initial franchise fee for the first Restaurant to be developed, plus 50% of the initial franchise fee for each additional Restaurant you commit to developing under the Multi-Unit Development Agreement.
Playa Bowls Franchise Cost
The estimated total investment necessary to begin the operation of a Playa Bowls restaurant ranges from $188,675 – $636,458.
Additional Cost Breakdown
The following costs are part of the upfront costs included in the initial investment. Many of these are one-time fees that are needed to launch the franchise.
Additional Cost Breakdown
| Type of Expenditure | Amount |
| Initial Franchise Fee (Note 1) | $35,000 |
| Construction and Leasehold Improvements (Note 2) | $50,000 – $300,000 |
| Lease Deposits and Rent – Three Months (Note 3) | $10,000 – $33,333 |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (Note 4) | $50,000 – $115,000 |
| Signage (Note 5) | $2,000 – $18,000 |
| Computer, Software, and Point of Sale System (Note 6) | $1,300 – $6,000 |
| Grand Opening Marketing (Note 7) | $10,000 |
| Initial Inventory (Note 8) | $10,000 – $30,000 |
| Utility Deposits (Note 9) | $0 – $1,500 |
| Insurance Deposits – Three Months (Note 10) | $1,875 – $2,625 |
| Travel for Initial Training (Note 11) | $1,000 – $10,000 |
| Professional Fees (Note 12) | $5,500 – $20,000 |
| General Licenses and Permits (Note 13) | $2,000 – $15,000 |
| Additional Funds – Three Months (Note 14) | $10,000 – $40,000 |
| Total Estimate (Note 15) | $188,675 – $636,458 |
Ongoing Costs and Fees
Royalty Fee: 6% of Gross Sales Paid Monthly
Brand Development Fee: 1% of Gross Sales Monthly
How Much Do Franchise Owners Make?
Playa Bowls Franchise Sales Figures
Playa Bowls does not make any representations about a franchisee’s future financial performance or the past financial performance of company-owned affiliate-owned or franchised outlets. The company also does not authorize employees or representatives to make any such representations either orally or in writing. If you are purchasing an existing outlet, however, Playa Bowl may provide you with the actual records of their outlet.
How many Playa Bowls units have opened and closed?
| Outlet Type | Year | Outlets at the Start of the Year | Outlets at the End of the Year | Net Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised | 2021 | 71 | 102 | +31 |
| Franchised | 2022 | 102 | 136 | +34 |
| Franchised | 2023 | 136 | 188 | +52 |
| Company Owned | 2021 | 25 | 26 | +1 |
| Company Owned | 2022 | 26 | 27 | +1 |
| Company Owned | 2023 | 27 | 28 | +1 |
| Total Outlets | 2021 | 96 | 128 | +32 |
| Total Outlets | 2022 | 128 | 163 | +35 |
| Total Outlets | 2023 | 163 | 216 | +53 |
As seen in the table above both Playa Bowls franchise locations and company-operated locations have increased over the past three years. However, franchise locations have increased at a much greater pace.
Conclusion
While Playa Bowls was only formed in 2016, it is seeing rapid franchise location growth with 120 new restaurants opened in the last three years.
Playa Bowl is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the new consumer trend of living a healthy lifestyle filled with nutritious foods.
Playa Bowls is in a new emerging market of healthy food options. However, this market is starting to grow in popularity with other companies such as Juice it Up, Jamba Juice, and Smoothie King capitalizing on the new wave of healthy eating and living.
We strongly recommend you speak to at least 5 Playa Bowls franchisees to better understand the financials (see questions to ask).
Think Playa Bowls is the right franchise for you, or are you interested in other franchise opportunities in the healthy food industry? Check out our listings page on the Vetted Biz website for thousands of franchises available for your investment.
