Tapioca Express vs P.J.'s Coffee Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Tapioca Express vs P.J.'s Coffee including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Tapioca Express Franchise
P.J.'s Coffee Franchise
Investment $200,000 - $420,000$173,275 - $582,000
Franchise Fee $15,000$25,000 - $35,000
Royalty Fee $0.055/cup5%
Advertising Fee -2%
Year Founded 19991978
Year Franchised 20001989
Term Of Agreement -10 years +10 +10
Term Of Agreement -10 years +10 +10
Renewal Fee $3K for 2 years-


Business Experience Requirements
 
Tapioca Express Franchise
P.J.'s Coffee Franchise
Experience
  • Industry experience
  • General business experience
  • Marketing skills
    		• A minimum of $75,000 in liquid capital (available cash) and at least $300,000 in net worth. In addition, you must be able to dedicate the necessary time to evaluate the franchise system with an executive in order to make a decision within four to eight weeks.

    Financing Options
     
    Tapioca Express Franchise
    P.J.'s Coffee Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/No-/-
    Start-up Costs No/No-/-
    Equipment No/No-/-
    Inventory No/No-/-
    Receivables No/No-/-
    Payroll No/No-/-

    Training & Support
     
    Tapioca Express Franchise
    P.J.'s Coffee Franchise
    Training -On-The-Job Training: 113 hours Classroom Training: 23 hours
    Support Newsletter, Meetings, Grand opening, Internet, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperativesPurchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings/Conventions Grand Opening Online Support Security/Safety Procedures Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
    Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicks, National media, Regional advertising Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social media SEO Website development Email marketing Loyalty program/app
    Operations

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 5

    100% of current franchisees are owner/operators

    		The general operating hours of a PJ's Coffee are from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The average PJ's Coffee staff consists of 12 - 16 part-time employees total, with a minimum of two or three per shift.

    Expansion Plans
     
    Tapioca Express Franchise
    P.J.'s Coffee Franchise
    US Expansion --
    Canada Expansion No-
    International Expansion Yes-

    Company Overviews

    About Tapioca Express

    Wayne and Stephanie, passionate about their Taiwanese heritage, opened the first Tapioca Express store in the San Gabriel Valley in 1999 �" one of the very first boba chains in the United States. Since the beginning,
    Tapioca Express has harvested the finest ingredients from Taiwan and continually provides quality teas, boba, and snacks. However, we did not foresee that boba’s popularity would manifest into its own culture and become an everyday lifestyle. Today, Tapioca Express expands across California and into other states, including Washington, Texas, and Virginia. In our two decades of experience in brewing, we focus on nurturing and enriching communities with the finest teas, coffee, and boba.
    Tapioca beverage is a various combination of black or green tea, milk, juice, coffee, and small marbles of tapioca (a.k.a. "black pearl" or "boba", made from Tapioca starch, water, corn starch and natural flavors.) It originated in Tai-Chung City (in Taiwan) around 1981, and soon spread across Asia. In the late 90s, it traveled to North America and has quickly become a raging trendy drink on both coasts. It is perceived as a relatively healthier beverage than soft drinks or coffee, and a lot more fun, too.Tapioca Express was the first in North America to offer a wide selection of high quality tapioca beverage adhering to a consistently high professional standard. Since opening its first store in the city of Alhambra (located in the Greater Los Angeles, California),
    Tapioca Express has become synonymous to quality and innovation.

    About P.J.'s Coffee

    Founded in New Orleans, PJ's has been brewing it's distinguished brand of signature roasts for over 25 years. Our beans are hand-selected, hand-roasted and brewed to perfection. PJ's also offers breakfast selections and a variety of gourmet pastries and desserts.

    The franchise fee is $30,000 for a single unit, $65,000 for three units and $100,000 for five units.
    The franchise fee provides you with a license to operate a PJ’s, our assistance to help you open a location, access to our recipes, products, technology, training systems, operational structure, marketing programs, and more.

     We offer a Military Discount of 20% off the total franchise fee for qualified military candidates.

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