Grounds For Coffee

Deciding whether to invest roughly $50,000 to $200,000 in a regional coffee franchise requires more than enthusiasm for espresso — it demands a rigorous examination of founding history, fee structures, operator requirements, and the long-term health of the category. Grounds For Coffee is a Utah-based coffee franchise concept with roots stretching back to 1989, when Bendt and Sandra Johnson opened the original shop in Salt Lake City, establishing one of the earlier specialty coffee retail-and-roasting operations in the Intermountain West. After the original owners closed their roasting operation and departed Utah in the mid-1990s, the franchise was re-established in 1996 by Dan and Suzy Dailey, who had already opened their first location at 3005 Harrison Boulevard in Ogden, Utah, on January 15, 1992. The Daileys rebuilt the Grounds For Coffee brand from a single community-anchored shop into a regional network that had expanded to eight operating locations by April 2015, encompassing sites in Ogden, Layton, Sunset, and Clearfield. Headquarters are based in Ogden, Utah, making this a privately held, owner-operator-centric franchise system with a distinctly local character that distinguishes it from nationally scaled corporate coffee chains. The brand occupies a niche position in the broader coffee franchise market — not competing on the volume economics of a 900-unit system, but instead offering what it describes as a cooperative franchise network where individual owners share in operational best practices, a proven beverage menu, and a whole-bean supply chain developed over more than three decades. For franchise investors evaluating community-scale coffee concepts in Utah and the surrounding region, Grounds For Coffee represents a granular but meaningful entry point into a global coffee franchise market valued at $90.7 billion in 2021 and projected to reach $200.3 billion by 2031. This profile is independent analysis, not marketing material produced by the franchisor.

The category that Grounds For Coffee occupies — snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars — sits at the intersection of several powerful and converging consumer trends that are reshaping how Americans spend discretionary income on food and beverage experiences outside the home. The broader nonalcoholic beverages market reached USD 1.42 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow to USD 2.93 billion by 2035, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 7.5% across the forecast period from 2026 to 2035. Within that market, the global coffee franchise segment is expanding at a CAGR of 8.3% from 2022 to 2031, underpinned by demographic tailwinds that are particularly favorable: specialty coffee demand is rising sharply among millennials and Gen Z consumers, and rising disposable income among younger Americans is projected to sustain a 7.9% CAGR in the coffee grounds market specifically. The health and wellness movement is reshaping what customers expect from coffee shops — demand for plant-based milk alternatives, low-calorie customization options, functional ingredients, and clean-label transparency is accelerating. Sustainability has become a structural demand driver rather than a marketing differentiator, with the global coffee grounds repurposing market alone projected to grow from USD 708.3 million in 2025 to USD 1,962.5 million by 2035 at a CAGR of 10.7%, driven by consumer interest in biodegradable packaging, ethically sourced beans, and circular economy practices. Premiumization — the willingness to pay more for artisanal, craft, or specialty-grade products — continues to favor independent and franchise coffee operators who can credibly differentiate on quality rather than price. Technology integration, including mobile ordering apps, kiosk-based customization, and delivery platform partnerships, is becoming table stakes for operators competing in both urban and suburban markets. For a regional franchise concept like Grounds For Coffee, the critical question is whether these macro tailwinds can be captured at the local operator level — and the brand's 60-plus variety Arabica whole-bean program, with beans roasted fresh and delivered within 24 hours of roasting, speaks directly to the premiumization and quality-transparency trends defining the category's growth segment.

The Grounds For Coffee franchise investment structure is notably accessible relative to much of the broader franchise market, with a total start-up cost range listed in the offering circular of $50,000 to $200,000 — a spread wide enough to accommodate everything from a modest kiosk buildout to a full-service retail coffee shop with custom decor and expanded food offerings. The initial franchise fee is $10,000, which compares favorably to the $25,000 to $40,000 initial franchise fees common among mid-tier specialty coffee franchises, positioning Grounds For Coffee firmly in the accessible-entry tier of the category. One of the most structurally distinctive features of the Grounds For Coffee franchise cost model is its royalty structure: rather than charging a percentage of gross sales — which at competing brands can reach seven to nine percent of revenue, compounding significantly as a shop scales — Grounds For Coffee charges a flat monthly fee of $500 regardless of sales volume. For an operator generating $400,000 in annual revenue, a nine percent royalty would extract $36,000 per year from the business, compared to just $6,000 annually under the Grounds For Coffee flat-fee model — a structural difference of $30,000 in retained earnings per year that materially affects payback period calculations. The franchisor strongly recommends that prospective franchisees hold liquid assets equal to at least half of their total opening cost, meaning an investor targeting a $150,000 buildout should plan to have $75,000 in accessible capital before signing. The franchisor also advises that franchisees maintain a secondary source of income during the early operating period, acknowledging openly that immediate profitability upon opening is not guaranteed and that initial profits may need to be reinvested into the business — a candid operational disclosure that serious investors should factor into their financial planning. No separate advertising fund contribution is identified in the available franchise disclosure materials, which further reduces the total ongoing fee burden on franchisees compared to systems that layer a two to three percent advertising royalty on top of sales-based royalties. The total cost of ownership profile for the Grounds For Coffee franchise investment places it in the lower quartile of the snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars franchise category, making it one of the more capital-efficient entry points available in the Utah specialty coffee market.

Daily operations at a Grounds For Coffee location are structured around a deliberate owner-operator model, with the franchisor explicitly stating that its experience across more than three decades of operation demonstrates that on-site owners produce measurably better outcomes: employees work harder, customer satisfaction is higher, and the bottom line is healthier when the franchisee is physically present in the shop. This is not an absentee-ownership investment model — prospective franchisees should plan on hands-on involvement in daily operations, staff management, customer relationship building, and quality control, particularly in the early years of operation. The barista training program is designed for speed and practicality, equipping franchisees and their teams to confidently prepare the full range of essential espresso, coffee, and non-coffee beverages through an intensive training sequence developed and refined since the franchisor began perfecting its systems and processes in 1991. The Grounds For Coffee whole-bean program is a significant operational differentiator, offering more than 60 varieties of top-quality Arabica beans sourced from every major coffee-producing region globally — including single-origin lots, signature blends, dark roasts, and flavored coffees — with fresh roasting and weekly delivery within 24 hours of roasting, providing franchisees with a supply chain quality advantage that would be difficult to replicate independently. Franchisees retain meaningful autonomy in shop decor, food product selection, and day-to-day decision-making, distinguishing the Grounds For Coffee operating model from more rigid franchise systems that dictate virtually every operational variable from corporate headquarters. Format history within the network includes traditional retail coffee shops, hospital and medical center kiosks — including locations at McKay-Dee Hospital Center opened in 1999 and Ogden Regional Medical Center opened in December 2015 — and street-level retail in historic commercial districts, suggesting flexibility in site format and real estate strategy. The cooperative franchise structure means that owner-operators contribute to the shared enhancement of the system and participate in collective best practices, creating a peer-network dynamic more common in franchise systems with fewer than 20 units than in large corporate chains.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for the Grounds For Coffee franchise, meaning the franchisor has elected not to publish average unit revenues, median revenues, or profit margins derived from franchisee operations. This is a legitimate and legal choice — franchisors are not legally required to provide financial performance representations in Item 19 of the FDD, and approximately 34% of franchise systems currently operating in the United States make this same election. The absence of Item 19 data shifts the due diligence burden to prospective investors, who should conduct direct interviews with existing franchisees, analyze the economics of comparable regional coffee shop operators, and carefully model their own location's revenue potential before committing capital. What the available data does reveal is a flat monthly royalty of $500 and an initial franchise fee of $10,000 — cost structure inputs that, relative to the $50,000 to $200,000 total investment range, suggest that the ongoing fee burden is low enough to allow a modestly performing location meaningful capacity to reach profitability. To benchmark potential performance, investors can reference the broader specialty coffee shop industry, where single-unit independent and franchise coffee shops in suburban and mid-sized city markets commonly generate annual revenues in the $250,000 to $600,000 range, with operator earnings typically falling between 10% and 20% of revenue for well-managed owner-operated shops. The Grounds For Coffee franchise network's geographic concentration in Utah's Ogden-Layton corridor and its presence inside medical centers — a captive-audience, high-frequency traffic environment — suggest a deliberate site-selection philosophy oriented toward predictable customer volume rather than speculative high-footfall retail competition. The FPI Score for Grounds For Coffee as tracked in the PeerSense database is 44, rated Fair, which reflects the limited scale of disclosed performance data and the relatively small unit count rather than a negative judgment on the underlying business concept or profitability of individual locations.

The Grounds For Coffee franchise network has developed through a measured, deliberate growth trajectory that prioritizes operational integrity over rapid unit expansion. Beginning with Dan and Suzy Dailey's Ogden Harrison Boulevard location in January 1992, the network grew to include a Layton location opened in 2000, a Historic 25th Street Ogden location opened in 2004, hospital kiosk locations opened in 1999 and 2015, a Sunset location opened in January 2014, and a Morgan location opened by franchisees Adam and Shauna Walker in March 2016 — reflecting a pace of roughly one new unit every two to three years on average. By April 2015, the network had reached eight operating locations, though the Riverdale location opened by Sadie Clifford Gleave in October 2012 subsequently closed in August 2015, illustrating that not all locations within the network have sustained long-term viability. The competitive advantages that Grounds For Coffee has constructed over more than three decades include: a proprietary whole-bean Arabica sourcing and roasting infrastructure capable of delivering 60-plus coffee varieties fresh within 24 hours of roasting; a proven community-building operational philosophy that generates customer loyalty through consistency and relationship management; a cost structure — particularly the flat $500 monthly royalty — that preserves franchisee cash flow in a way that percentage-based royalty models structurally cannot; and an established presence in institutional, captive-audience locations like hospital campuses that provide baseline traffic floors insulated from typical retail competition. The global coffee grounds repurposing market growing at 10.7% CAGR to 2035 points toward sustainability as an emerging competitive frontier, and coffee franchises that integrate bean-to-cup transparency and waste-reduction practices will be increasingly advantaged with younger consumer cohorts. The craft and artisanal beverage preference that is accelerating among millennial and Gen Z consumers aligns well with a regional brand that can credibly claim three decades of specialty coffee expertise, local ownership, and a curated whole-bean program unavailable at mass-market competitors.

The ideal Grounds For Coffee franchisee candidate is someone prepared to function as a full-time, on-site operator — the franchisor's track record and explicit philosophy consistently point toward direct owner involvement as the primary performance driver within the network. No specific prior coffee industry experience is required, as the barista training program is designed to rapidly onboard franchisees to full operational competence, but candidates with backgrounds in food service management, customer-facing retail, or small business operations will find the learning curve more navigable. The franchisor's stated preference for owner-operators who are committed to building community relationships and developing employee cultures suggests that interpersonal skills and local market engagement are weighted as heavily as financial qualifications in the franchisee selection process. Geographic availability is concentrated in Utah, with existing locations spanning the Ogden-Layton-Sunset corridor and extending to Morgan, indicating that prospective franchisees should plan for operations within the Intermountain West region rather than national or multi-state expansion. The liquid capital recommendation — at minimum half of the total project cost — combined with the advised maintenance of a secondary income source during early operations, points toward an ideal candidate with $50,000 to $100,000 in accessible capital and a financial cushion sufficient to sustain the business through an initial ramp period. The franchise agreement structure, including term length and renewal terms, should be reviewed directly in the current Franchise Disclosure Document, which all prospective franchisees are legally entitled to receive and review with independent legal counsel before executing any agreement.

For investors conducting serious due diligence on the Grounds For Coffee franchise opportunity, the investment thesis centers on three converging factors: a low total cost of entry relative to the specialty coffee franchise category, a structurally advantaged flat-fee royalty model that preserves franchisee economics at every revenue level, and a 30-plus-year operational foundation in a market — Utah's Wasatch Front — with durable demographic growth and rising specialty coffee demand among younger consumers. The global coffee franchise market's projected trajectory from $90.7 billion in 2021 to $200.3 billion by 2031 establishes a powerful macro context, and regional specialty coffee operators with authentic sourcing stories and community-rooted positioning are capturing meaningful share of the premiumization trend that is driving category growth. The absence of Item 19 financial performance disclosure means that prospective investors must do the hard work of building their own revenue and cost models, but the flat $500 monthly royalty and $10,000 franchise fee create a cost structure that is among the most franchisee-friendly in the entire nonalcoholic beverage bars category. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score analysis, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark Grounds For Coffee against every competing coffee and beverage franchise concept in the database. The Grounds For Coffee FPI Score of 44 reflects the brand's current scale and disclosure profile, and tracking how that score evolves as the network develops provides an important longitudinal signal for investors monitoring the brand over time. Explore the complete Grounds For Coffee franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.