Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise: what it costs
Opening a cafe under the Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise runs $275,500 to $770,500, its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) shows. That's the set of papers a brand must hand you before you buy one.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise cost, item by item
- Full cost of opening
- $275,500 through $770,500 Item 7, 2026 FDD
- Franchise fee you pay one time at the start
- $35,000 Item 5, 2026 FDD
- Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand
- You pay 6% of gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Marketing fund, which covers shared advertising
- You pay 5% of gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Figures on sales or earnings
- $978,298 a year on average across 1,431 locations it counts, before costs Item 19, 2026 FDD
- Number of locations when 2025 ended
- Franchise owners ran 1,650 and the company ran 1 Item 20, 2026 FDD
Every figure above was copied from this 2026 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Franchise Disclosure Document. TSC Franchisor, LLC submitted it to the Minnesota Department of Commerce; it's dated April 17, 2026 and was amended on June 10, 2026. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe FDD: sales and earnings
In Item 19, Tropical Smoothie Cafe shares figures. That's the FDD section where a brand may state its locations' sales or earnings. The headline figure is $978,298 in average yearly net revenue. It covers 1,431 traditional cafes run by franchisees, each open at least a full year, for 2025. It is money the store takes in, not profit, because rent, wages and every other cost get paid from it.
With our guide, you can understand an Item 19 before counting on any number from it.
Other smoothie franchises next to Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Among the smoothie franchises on this site, opening a Tropical Smoothie Cafe costs the least.
| Brand | Total cost to opentotal, lowest to highest | Upfront feeone-time fee | Royaltyongoing, usually a % of sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical Smoothie Cafe | $276K to $771K | $35,000 | 6% |
| Playa Bowls | $282K to $1.06M | $35,000 | 6% |
| Jamba | $481K to $941K | $35,500 | 6% |
Before you buy, a brand has to hand over its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD); the brand's latest one is where every figure comes from. After you open, you keep paying the brand a royalty: a share of sales or a set amount. A K stands for thousand, an M for million. Each of the 3 brands includes sales or earnings figures in its FDD (open any brand to see the numbers). All of these FDD filings were made with the Minnesota Department of Commerce in 2026.
All smoothie franchises, side by side
The number of Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations
At the end of 2025, the United States had 1,651 Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations, and 100% were run by franchise owners (Item 20). In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.
Get the Tropical Smoothie Cafe FDD read by a franchise attorney
Before you sign, one franchise attorney can go through the Tropical Smoothie Cafe FDD and franchise agreement with you.