How Much Does a Clean Eatz Franchise Cost?

A single Clean Eatz Café has an estimated initial investment of $307,500 to $733,500 under the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document issued by Clean Eatz Franchising LLC on April 30, 2026. It includes the upfront contract payment, premises and build-out work, kitchen assets, opening food and inventory, technology, opening marketing, insurance, and a three-month business reserve.

The 2026 Café cost table combines 17 separate expenditure lines. It should be read as a range for one Café, not as a menu from which a buyer can omit required categories. Several costs are paid to landlords, contractors, approved suppliers, and insurers rather than to the franchisor.

Premises, design, and build-out

Site control and physical preparation account for the largest share of the disclosed range. These rows show the payments tied to the lease, professional plans, construction work, fixtures, and exterior identification.

Source: FDD, pp. 16–17. Rent or Real Estate generally includes first and last month’s rent plus a security deposit. The franchisee is responsible for obtaining the site and lease.

Opening operations, equipment, and working capital

The remaining opening budget covers training travel, food and supplies, the kitchen package, technology, insurance, launch promotion, and the reserve intended for early operating needs.

Source: FDD, pp. 16–18. The Initial Inventory line includes an initial $1,800 to $4,000 order from affiliate CE Kitchen, Inc.; that amount is already inside Item 7 and should not be added again.

For the 2026 Café offer, the $100,000 to $343,000 construction line is the largest range driver in the disclosure. The franchisor says a second-generation restaurant may require less work and that a landlord’s tenant-improvement allowance may offset part of the build-out, while a site that needs substantial upfit can cost more.

The FDD reports that 2025 tenant-improvement allowances received by franchisees averaged $67,133, with a disclosed range of $0 to $150,000. It also states that 2025 construction upfit costs were $25 to $195 per square foot and says this equates to $300,000 to $465,000 for a current model Café of 1,800 to 2,500 square feet. The public real-estate profile describes a 1,800-to-2,400-square-foot footprint.

• Equipment is separate from construction. The separate kitchen package must use new units from the exclusive supplier; used units are not allowed.
• Two design amounts appear. The table has a separate Footprint Design Fee, while the package footnote includes another design charge and a Project Management Fee. Do not collapse those lines without written clarification.
• Permits and code compliance remain the franchisee’s responsibility. Item 11 states that architectural plans, construction, remodeling, permits, and code compliance costs are paid by the franchisee.

Under the 2026 Café disclosure, the investment is not paid as one lump sum. The upfront fee is due first, while premises, design, build-out, kitchen assets, inventory, insurance, and technology are paid as contracts are signed and opening approaches. The disclosure estimates nine to twelve months from signing the contract to opening, depending on financing, lease terms, construction or conversion work, and training.

1. At contract signingThe $49,500 upfront fee is due in full and is nonrefundable.
2. During site control and designRent deposits, the $3,500 Footprint Design Fee, the $15,000 to $22,000 Architect Fee, lease-review costs when applicable, and permitting-related expenses begin to come due.
3. During build-out and procurementBuild-out, furniture, signage, new kitchen assets, the Technology Package, insurance, and supplier deposits are paid under third-party contracts before opening.
4. Thirty days before openingThe first $2,500 installment of the $5,000 Initial Marketing Funds payment is due to the franchisor. Opening food, Initial Inventory, and other operating supplies also must be funded.
5. After openingThe second $2,500 Initial Marketing Funds installment is due 60 days after opening. The $20,000 to $40,000 reserve covers the first three months of disclosed startup needs, while Royalty Fee, Brand Fund, Local Marketing, Technology Fee, payroll, rent, and vendor payments continue.

Under the 2026 Café disclosure, the main continuing charges are a 6% royalty, at least 1% of Gross Sales spent on Local Marketing, a 2% Brand Fund contribution, and a $638 monthly Technology Fee. The royalty and national contribution are collected weekly by automatic ACH for the preceding Monday-through-Sunday reporting week.

Source: FDD, Item 6, pp. 13–16; Item 7, p. 18; Item 11, pp. 27–30. “Gross Sales” broadly includes receipts from all current and future business revenue streams, with limited exclusions for remitted sales taxes, no-revenue promotions, and free employee services.

Event-triggered and conditional charges

These amounts arise only when a specified event occurs, such as extra training, a transfer, late payment, renewal, technology replacement, lease review, default, or a mandatory conference.

• Additional training: $150 per person per day for people beyond the included trainees. The fee-table footnote states total Training Fees may range from $0 to $101,200.
• Additional on-site assistance: $500 per day with a two-day minimum, plus travel and living expenses.
• Transfer Fee: the table states $0 to $10,000, while the footnote specifies $0 for certain entity or family transfers, $2,500 to another system franchisee, and $5,000 in other cases. Confirm the controlling amount.
• Audit and late-payment charges: audit cost plus 1% interest per month on an understatement when the stated trigger applies; separate late-payment interest is 1% per month or the maximum lawful rate, whichever is less.
• Renewal Fee: $10,000, due 30 days before renewal. The initial term is ten years and the renewal term is ten years, subject to the Item 17 conditions.
• Computer, POS, and communications upgrades: The fee table says usually no more than $5,000 per year and no more than $12,000 to switch POS vendors. The assistance section separately states a $10,000 annual upgrade maximum and a $10,000 maximum for a replacement POS system. Obtain the current technology schedule.
• Liquidated Damages: $100 per day after written notice and an opportunity to cure a default, under the fee-table description.
• Lease Negotiation Fee: up to $2,000 of actual legal cost if the franchisor engages counsel for lease review or negotiation.
• Mandatory conference: $1,750 to $3,000 per person, excluding travel. Item 11 estimates travel at $800 to $2,000 per person.

Under the 2026 disclosure, the multi-unit contract covers two to five Cafés. The franchisee signs the first unit contract at the same time as the development contract and pays the full $49,500 fee for the first Café, plus half of that fee for every additional committed Café. The other half for each additional Café is paid when that Café’s unit contract is signed. All of these fees are nonrefundable.

The chart covers franchise fees only. Each Café still requires its own premises, construction, equipment, inventory, technology, insurance, opening marketing, and working capital. The disclosed total is a one-Café range and should not be multiplied mechanically without site-specific budgets and the opening schedule.

As checked July 13, 2026, the official site states a minimum of $200,000 in liquid assets and $750,000 in net worth per location. For markets requiring a minimum three-unit development, the stated thresholds are $600,000 in liquid assets and $2,250,000 in net worth. These are qualification thresholds, not opening expenditures, and net worth is not cash available to spend.

The qualification language appears on the official partner qualifications page, not in the current cost tables. Neither source states a separate minimum for non-borrowed funds. The disclosure does require guarantees from specified owners and, in the highlighted risk disclosure, describes spousal liability for the operating contract’s obligations.

Estimated Initial Investment

$307,500 to $733,500 for one Café in the cost table.

Liquid assets

The site-stated threshold concerns assets that can generally be converted to cash, not necessarily the full project budget.

Net worth

The site-stated threshold measures total assets minus liabilities; it is not a payment to the franchisor.

Personal Guarantee

A contractual obligation supporting the franchisee entity’s duties; it increases exposure but is not a disclosed startup line item.

Does the franchisor finance the investment?

No. Item 10 states that the franchisor does not offer direct or indirect financing and does not guarantee a note, lease, or obligation. A buyer may independently evaluate third-party funding, including the SBA loan-program overview, but approval, collateral, rates, and eligible uses are determined by lenders and are not guaranteed by the franchisor.

That page also advertises reduced franchise fees and favorable financing terms for qualifying veterans but does not publish the amount, provider, eligibility rules, or contract terms. Because the disclosure does not state a veteran reduction or financing arrangement, no discount has been applied to any figure in this article.

No separate Express investment range appears in the cost table. Item 1 says the brand began offering an Express-style business model in January 2025, but the offer description, cost table, contract structure, and multi-unit schedule in this document are framed around a Clean Eatz Café. The disclosed range should therefore be treated as the Café disclosure, not automatically applied to an Express location.

The consumer site confirms the U.S. brand identity and operating concept through the official U.S. brand website, but consumer pages are not a substitute for format-specific disclosure terms.

For one Café under the 2026 disclosure, the included startup reserve is $20,000 to $40,000 for the first three months and is already included in the total investment. It covers possible initial operating losses, additional insurance, miscellaneous pre-opening costs, payroll, utilities, additional legal and accounting fees, and government payments needed to open. The franchisor expressly says the estimate may be insufficient.

Separately, the FDD says a franchisee should have cash available for personal living expenses during the first three to six months. It does not state a dollar amount or say that household spending is included in the business reserve. The cost of outside financing is also not included as a fixed number because it depends on creditworthiness, collateral, lender policy, and financing terms.

• Reconcile the official web table with the April 30, 2026 disclosure. Use the current disclosure and state-specific addenda as the controlling disclosure package.
• Obtain a site-specific construction reconciliation. Compare contractor bids, tenant-improvement allowance, square footage, permits, architect scope, equipment, and both disclosed design-fee references.
• Confirm supplier quotes. Verify the exclusive equipment supplier package, the CE Kitchen, Inc. opening order, required proteins from Lifestyle Provisionz LLC, Opening Food Order, and Initial Inventory as separate documented obligations.
• Confirm the operative Item 6 caps. Resolve the Regional Advertising Cooperative, Transfer Fee, and technology-upgrade inconsistencies in the agreement delivered for the transaction.
• Separate business cash from household cash. Count the disclosed business reserve once, then separately document personal living expenses and debt-service requirements.
• Verify state effectiveness. The State Effective Dates page listed several registration states as pending when issued, so confirm that the document is effective in the buyer’s state before payment.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Franchise Rule guidance explains the federal disclosure framework. It does not validate the brand’s figures or replace review of the current operating and development contracts, state addenda, lease, supplier contracts, and lender documents.

For one Café, the verified 2026 starting point is $307,500 to $733,500. The upfront contract payment and three-month business reserve are already included. The largest unresolved variable is premises and build-out, followed by the kitchen package. The official financial qualification remains separate from the opening-cost estimate.

After opening, the principal recurring charges remain percentage-based operating fees and a monthly technology charge, plus vendor, occupancy, payroll, insurance, conference, upgrade, renewal, and event-triggered costs. A multi-unit commitment also accelerates fee payments before later Cafés open. The most important remaining task is to reconcile the selected site and format with the current disclosure, state addenda, contractor scope, supplier quotes, and the exact agreements to be signed.