COTTI Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a COTTI franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2026), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
COTTI discloses little or no owner-earnings data (Item 19) — the franchisor won't put real profit in writing.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Franchisor explicitly declines to provide financial performance representations or projections. No earnings data disclosed.
What a COTTI franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $10,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Total initial investment | $259,170 – $608,200 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Complex tiered service fee (0-25% of adjusted gross margin); numerous pass-through costs including equipment, fixtures, inventory via affiliates.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
COTTI system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 0 |
| Ceased operations | 0 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 0 |
| Transferred to new owners | 0 |
New franchisor; zero system outlets as of 2025; no historical performance data.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2026. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is COTTI worth it? — how it compares to 32 similar franchises
| Startup cost | from $259,170 | cheaper than most (median $350,000) |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade F | less honest than most of the category |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every coffee & donuts franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a COTTI
The franchisor's framing: Franchisor explicitly declines to provide financial performance representations or project… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
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COTTI franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a COTTI franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $259,170–$608,200, including a $10,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do COTTI franchise owners make?
- COTTI discloses little or no earnings data (Item 19) — meaning the franchisor won't put real owner profit in writing. That's a red flag worth questioning.
- What are the COTTI franchise fees?
- COTTI's FDD discloses a $10,000 initial franchise fee. Complex tiered service fee (0-25% of adjusted gross margin); numerous pass-through costs including equipment, fixtures, inventory via affiliates.
- What is the COTTI franchise profit margin?
- COTTI discloses no Item 19 earnings representation, so no profit margin can be derived from the FDD at all. Any margin figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
- What is the COTTI franchise failure rate?
- New franchisor; zero system outlets as of 2025; no historical performance data.
- How many COTTI locations are there?
- COTTI's FDD reports 0 total outlets, with 0 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 0 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does COTTI have complaints or lawsuits?
- COTTI discloses no material litigation in Item 3 of the filing we reviewed. That's a positive signal, though it covers only what the franchisor is required to report.
- Is a COTTI franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. COTTI scores F on disclosure honesty. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare COTTI to similar franchises
See all franchises ranked by disclosure honesty →
Source: MN CARDS 35686-202603-19 (Clean FDD 2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with COTTI or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.