descriptionThe Franchise Dossier
FDD Sourced
Independent analysis. Not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Kona Ice. All figures sourced from public FDD filings.
Franchise dossier · Frozen dessert (mobile shaved ice)

Owning a Kona Ice: what actually happens

VERDICT · ASSET — IF YOU SCALE
Cheap flat royalties and good margins per cup, but one truck is a seasonal job you drive yourself; the asset is a booked-up fleet.
You'd pocket / yr*
$25K–$70K
1 unit · before your salary
Your time
30–55 hrs/wk
semi-absentee OK
Becomes an asset at
~3 units
real wealth: 4-6 trucks
Agreement term
10 yrs
then renewal
Year one, honestly

Year one is booking a calendar. The truck earns at school events, youth sports, festivals and corporate bookings, and a large share of school and team sales is handed back to the host organization as a fundraising giveback, which is how the bookings are won in the first place. A new owner usually drives the truck personally, works evenings and weekends through the warm months, and spends the off-season selling next year's events. In cold-weather territories the selling season is roughly half the year while the truck payment and insurance run all twelve months.

If you want out

A territory with several trucks, hired drivers and a calendar of repeat school and league bookings is a real, sellable business, and the trucks themselves hold resale value inside the system. A single truck driven by its owner sells for little more than the vehicle. Transfers need franchisor approval and carry a fee of about $5,000-$7,500 plus $1,000 per piece of additional equipment.

Smart for

A sociable owner-operator in a warm or long-season market who is good at working schools, leagues and event organizers, and plans to add trucks and drivers once the calendar is full.

Dumb for

Anyone in a short-season climate expecting one truck to replace a full-time salary, or anyone who does not want to work most summer weekends.

The disclosure it's built on

The verdict above is our read of the numbers Kona Ice files with regulators — here they are, cited.

Kona IceFDD 2026
Item 5 · Initial franchise fee
$15,000
Item 7 · Initial investment
$114,730 – $228,601
Item 6 · Royalty
Flat $3,000-$5,000 per truck per year (rises with tenure)
Item 6 · Ad / brand fund
$500 per truck per year + tech and software fees
Item 19 · Avg unit revenue
Not disclosed
Item 20 · US units (~2025)
1,929
SOURCEFranchise Direct 2026 FDD summary: $15,000 fee, Item 7 $114,730-$228,601, per-truck royalty $3,000/$4,000/$5,000 by year, brand fund $500 per truck per year (+$200 per additional equipment), technology fee $1,000 per year, KonaOS software $35/month per truck, 10-year term with two 10-year renewals (high confidence; FranchisePayback 2026 matches the fee, range and royalty). 1851 Franchise 2025 FDD: Item 7 $178,856-$226,841 for a standard truck, same royalty schedule. FranchiseOverview shows $10,000 fee and a 3% royalty, which conflicts with four other sources and is not used. No Item 19 (high confidence, three sources). Units: FranchisePayback 1,929 franchised + 4 company-owned; Franchise Direct ~1,985; each unit is a truck, not an owner (medium confidence). Systemwide sales from Franchise Times Fast and Serious 2026.
The catch

The royalty is a flat fee per truck ($3,000 a year in years one and two, $4,000 in years three to six, $5,000 in years seven to ten), so it rises with how long you have been in the system, not with what you sell, and it is owed in a rained-out summer the same as a record one. The flat fee looks tiny because the real money changes hands up front: most of the $115K-$229K investment is the truck and its equipment. And there is no Item 19, so the FDD gives you nothing to check a per-truck sales estimate against in a business where a northern operator may only work five or six months a year.

*How to read these numbers. Disclosed (FDD summaries): $15,000 fee, Item 7 $114,730-$228,601, flat per-truck royalty of $3,000-$5,000 a year, $500 brand fund, 10-year term, no Item 19. Per-truck revenue is NOT disclosed; the roughly $180K implied by Franchise Times systemwide sales is a derived context figure. Cost structure (including event givebacks inside other opex), take-home, hours and scale thresholds are ESTIMATES from mobile-food operator norms (low confidence, wide by climate). — "You'd pocket" is estimated owner cash flow for one average unit before a salary for your own full-time work, so it is not take-home pay. Averages are not promises; your unit could earn far less. This is analysis, not advice — read the current FDD in full and talk to current and former franchisees before you commit.

Seriously considering Kona Ice?

Pressure-test the affordability, then read the full FDD and validate Item 19 (or its absence) with existing franchisees. When we add vetted franchise-consultant and financing partners, they'll be clearly disclosed here and never change our analysis.

Run a rough affordability check →