Top Dessert Franchise Opportunities of 2022

Who doesn’t dream of opening up a dessert business when they are a kid? The endless cookies and ice cream, non-stop fun and Willy Wonka-esque wonderment is enough to make the career appealing to any child, but it’s the potential for a healthy return on investment that keeps people interested as they grow older. 

For investors looking to enter a unique and joyful segment of the foodservice industry, dessert brands offer a lucrative opportunity to satisfy post-date-night customers and families in search of a weekend treat. Plus, since dessert establishments offer customers a much-needed reprieve from counting calories and worrying about what they are eating, business owners benefit from an offering that markets itself — when it's time to indulge, customers know where to go. 

Best of all, many dessert franchise concepts feature incredibly simple operations, minimal equipment and staffing requirements, low start-up costs and universally beloved brand names. 

These are 1851 Franchise’s favorite dessert franchises for 2022. 

Mooyah Burgers Fries & Shakes

• Start-up costs: $551,918-$715,161
• Units: 84

Fosters Freeze

• Start-up costs:  $611,500-$1,009,000
• Units: 68

Marble Slab Creamery

• Start-up costs: $316,285-$409,935
• Units: 130+
• 1851 Brand Newsroom

Culver’s

• Start-up costs: $2,300,000-$5,400,000
• Units: 765

Le Macaron

• Start-up costs: $84,350-$361,500
• Units: 60+

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

• Start-up costs: $641,000-$2,100,000
• Units: 386 

Baskin-Robbins

• Start-up costs: $124,000-$559,000
• Units: 7,921

Dairy Queen

• Start-up costs: $1,100,000-$1,900,000
• Units: 7,034

Great American Cookies

• Start-up costs: $301,400-$469,150
• Units: 240+
• 1851 Brand Newsroom

Paris Baguette*

• Start-up costs: $528,270-$1,638,554
• Units: 4,000+
• 1851 Brand Newsroom