FDD Talk: The Bowl of Heaven Franchise Opportunity (Financial Performance Analysis, Estimated Costs, and Other Important Stuff You Need to Know)

In this FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:

• Section I – Background information on the Bowl of Heaven franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates

• Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Bowl of Heaven franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2015 FDD

• Section III – Presentation and analysis of Bowl of Heaven’s financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2015 FDD, including information on the:

• 2014 and 2013 actual gross sales, cost of goods sold, payroll expenses, gross operating profit, advertising, merchant/bank fees, cleaning expenses, rent, utilities, computer/internet, building insurance, and net operating profit for the Bowl of Heaven outlet located in Southern California owned and operated by Bowl of Heaven’s affiliate BOH-L

Section I – Background Information

It was while attending college on the north shore of Hawaii’s Island of O’ahu that Brandon Beazer fell deeply in love…with açaí bowls (pronounced ah-sigh-ee). It’s essentially a super-thick smoothie made from a Brazilian rainforest tropical fruit called the açaí berry.

It has tons of health benefits, from being rich in antioxidants to boosting both energy and the immune system, as well as reducing cholesterol in the bloodstream, aiding in digestion, helping fight harmful organisms, and all kinds of other good things.

When served in a bowl, it can then be topped with other healthy ingredients.

Beazer graduated with degrees in Pre-Professional Biology and Biochemistry, all set to head off to medical school. But when highly successful entrepreneur, author, and radio show host Dan McCormick visited Hawaii and Beazer introduced him to the açaí bowl phenomenon, the two soon found themselves drawing up business plans that came to life as Bowl of Heaven.

The duo opened their first location in Rancho Santa Margarita, California on August 29, 2010. In addition to açaí bowls, they added other superfood smoothies and fresh pressed juices to the menu.

Being so new and serving the extreme health-conscious niche, it’s not surprising that there are only 10 locations so far, with franchising having just been launched in 2012, but there are five more slated to open before the end of 2015.

Here’s how Bowl of Heaven fills you up to the brim with healthy products:

An Easy Process

A quick turn of the blender is what makes heaven in a bowl, always starting with açaí as the base, and adding in other fresh and frozen exotic super-fruits from there. No Ice. No Dairy. No processed sugars. It’s just nature’s powerhouse fruits topped with granola, fresh fruit, and local raw honey. It’s ridiculously delicious and incredibly healthy.

A Simple, Rich Menu

The chain offers 8 basic bowls (North Shore Original, Popeye, Dans PB, SeaSider, Red Zinger, Lime-a-Licious, Sunset, and Paradise), each with its own unique blend of fruits and toppings; 7 fresh juices, including Green Glory (kale, spinach, lemon, cucumber, celery, parsley, apple), Heart Beet (beets, lemon, apples), Root Boost (lime, ginger, apple, carrots), Hulk-n-Nator (lemon, parsley, kale, spinach, carrots), Tropicana (kiwi, strawberries, oranges), C-Power (oranges, apples, carrots), and good old Orange Juice; and 6 Heavenly Smoothies (Purple Rain, Aloha Delight, Berry Blast, Peanut Butter Blast, Pumpkin Delite, and Popeye Blast).

Extras include Paleo Granola, Organic Hemp Flax Seed Granola, and Ollin Vanilla Bowl of Heaven Plant Protein.

Bottled to Go

The chain also sells its own bottled superfruit juice called Maq7, made up of 7 of nature’s most exotic and powerful antioxidant-rich superfruits and berries, including Maqui (from southern Chile), açaí (from Brazil), Gac (from throughout Southeast Asia), Alaskan Blueberries (Alaska and Pacific Northwest), Chinese Lycium (China), Siberian Pineapple (native to Europe, Russia, and China), and Cili (from southwest China).

Good Reception

Generally speaking, customer reception on sites like Yelp is quite good. The most common complaint is that it feels pricey given the size of what you get. However, one might blame this on the fast food industry in general that produces largely bad food and gives out a lot of it at cheap prices.

Section II – Estimated Costs

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Bowl of Heaven franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2015 FDD (updated).

Section III – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2015 FDD) and Analysis