The Spice & Tea Exchange
Retail & Consumer Goods · Specialty Retail
- Active units
- 93
- Avg unit volume
- $543k
- Royalty
- 7.0%
Franchised, year-end 2024
of weekly Net Sales
About The Spice & Tea Exchange
Spice & Tea Exchange is a renowned brand with over 55 stores spread across 26 states. Known for its high-quality products and accessories, they cater to home cooks, chefs, and tea lovers. Stepping into their stores feels like entering an old-world spice traders' atmosphere, where you can explore an impressive range of spices, herbs, blends, salts, teas, sugars, and more. Whether you prefer to buy online or visit one of their stores, Spice & Tea Exchange offers a diverse selection to enhance your culinary experience. Their array of spices includes everything from peppers, chilies, and paprikas to whole spices and herbs. You can stock up on unique powders and explore the finest florals and berries. They also provide a range of organic spices and botanicals. In addition to spices, Spice & Tea Exchange is known for their exceptional spice blends, grinder blends, meat blends, dips, and seafood blends. They also offer a variety of teas, including limited-time teas, black teas, green teas, herbal teas, oolong teas, white teas, pu-erh teas, matcha teas, caffeine-free teas, iced teas, yerba mate teas, and chai teas. Discover the world of flavor with Spice & Tea Exchange and elevate your cooking and tea-making to new heights.
Key terms
- Franchise fee
$39k
- Deposit credit
Non‑refundable $15,000 Deposit credited to Franchise Fee if a franchise is granted under the Franchise Agreement
- Brand fund
1.0% of Net Sales
- Local advertising
1.0% of Net Sales
- Footprint
1,200 – 1,800 sq ft
- Area Development Program
$90k
- Veteran discount
25.0% off franchise fee — 25% reduction of the Franchise Fee for a U.S. military veteran who will own a majority interest; applies only to the first Store and not to the Area Development Program
Brand Percentile Rankings
Rankings compare brands in the same operating year. Fee and investment figures come from the FDD (2026 filing); filings on file: 2024, 2025, 2026.
Growth
- Total locations97
Franchised units open at year-end
- New openings—
Gross new units opened during the calendar year
- 1-year unit growth rate4.3%
Net unit growth versus prior year
- 3-year unit CAGR4.4%
Compound annual growth rate of unit count over the trailing 3 years
- Unit growth ratio—
Cumulative opens / closures through year-end
Unit economics
- Annual unit volume (Median)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- Annual unit volume (25th percentile)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- Annual unit volume (75th percentile)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- 1-year Median AUV growth rate6.6%
Year-over-year change in median AUV
- Store-level EBITDA Margin—
Median unit-level EBITDA / AUV
Investment profile
- Estimated initial investment$435k
Midpoint of estimated initial investment range
↓ Lower is better - Time to open—
Midpoint of average time from agreement to opening
- Royalty rate7.0%
Percent of net sales paid to the franchisor
↓ Lower is better - Sales-to-investment ratio—
Median AUV / estimated initial investment midpoint
- Cash-on-cash returns—
Median unit-level EBITDA / estimated initial investment midpoint. Steady-state estimate; year 1 returns will be lower as the unit ramps to median volumes.
Franchisee healthLocked
- Unit closure ratio
- Transfer vs. closure ratio
- Percent multi-unit franchisees
- Litigation rate
- EBITDA multiple on sales & transfers
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Sources
Financial and operating figures are sourced from the brand's Franchise Disclosure Documents. Brand percentile rankings are based on comparisons to other brands that include the same metrics in their Franchise Disclosure Documents.