Tapioca Express vs Second Cup Franchise Comparison

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

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Tapioca Express Franchise
Second Cup Franchise
Investment $200,000 - $420,000$300,000 - $500,000
Franchise Fee $15,000$25,000
Royalty Fee $0.055/cup7.5%
Advertising Fee -2%
Year Founded 19991975
Year Franchised 20001975
Term Of Agreement --
Term Of Agreement --
Renewal Fee $3K for 2 years-


Business Experience Requirements
 
Tapioca Express Franchise
Second Cup Franchise
Experience
  • Industry experience
  • General business experience
  • Marketing skills
    		• Personality - You like making people feel good. You’re patient, understanding, easy to talk to and outgoing. Experience - You have at least 5 years of business management, retail or hospitality experience and a sound understanding of financials. Leadership - You can hire, train, organize and inspire a barista team to give their best efforts every day.

    Financing Options
     
    Tapioca Express Franchise
    Second Cup 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
    Second Cup Franchise
    Training --
    Support Newsletter, Meetings, Grand opening, Internet, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives-
    Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicks, National media, Regional advertising-
    Operations

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 5

    100% of current franchisees are owner/operators

    		-

    Expansion Plans
     
    Tapioca Express Franchise
    Second Cup Franchise
    US Expansion --
    Canada Expansion NoYes
    International Expansion YesYes

    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 Second Cup

    Second Cup Coffee Co.™ is Canada’s largest specialty coffee retailer. From our humble beginnings in 1975 as a kiosk in a shopping mall, selling only whole bean coffee, we have continued towards our goal of being the Canadian specialty coffee brand of choice. For us, that means putting coffee at the core of business, focusing on quality, innovation and creating an individual experience for our customers.

    In addition to coffee-based beverages, Second Cup cafés carry a variety of complimentary products, including fresh locally baked goods and Better For You smoothies. Recently, we’ve introduced Pinkberry® frozen yogurt into cafés across the country and Second Cup has the exclusive rights to this category in Canada.


    "Top

    #49 in Canada's Top franchises.