Abbott's Frozen Custard vs Papa Murphy's

Papa Murphy’s is the stronger opportunity, and it isn’t close. The dimension that wins is TAM, pure and simple. With 965 franchised units against Abbott’s 21, you’re looking at a total addressable market that’s 46 times larger. Even with Papa Murphy’s shrinking at -3.6% YoY, the absolute unit loss is manageable—roughly 36 locations per year—while Abbott’s -12.5% decline on a tiny base means the brand is bleeding relevance fast. AUV tells the same story in reverse: Abbott’s $323k per unit is too lean to support a serious software stack, whereas Papa Murphy’s operators, despite a modest AUV, are running a take-and-bake model with lower labor complexity, making them hungrier for scheduling and marketing automation that directly impacts margin.

The meaningful tradeoff is budget versus terrain. Abbott’s investment range stretches to $1.8M, which signals some franchisees have capital, but that capital is sunk into real estate and buildout for a shrinking concept. Papa Murphy’s tighter $450k–$693k band means franchisees recoup faster and have operating cash flow to spend on software that drives repeat traffic—critical for a model built on at-home baking. Neither brand locks you out with a mandated procurement model, so terrain is open, but Papa Murphy’s sheer unit count gives you a repeatable sales motion and a reference base that Abbott’s can’t match.

Verdict: Papa Murphy’s wins on TAM and viable unit-level economics for software spend, despite negative growth; Abbott’s is a non-starter.