Anhalt Franchising vs Papa Murphy's

Papa Murphy’s is the stronger near-term opportunity because TAM dominates every other dimension. With 965 franchised units versus Anhalt’s 64, the addressable base is 15x larger—even a low double-digit penetration rate delivers more software seats than capturing every Anhalt location. For a vendor selling POS, marketing automation, and back-office tools, unit count directly scales pipeline and recurring revenue, making the sheer volume the overriding factor.

The meaningful tradeoff sits in timing and per-unit budget. Papa Murphy’s is contracting at -3.6% unit growth year-over-year, which signals franchisee churn and potential reluctance to adopt new tech. Anhalt’s investment range stretches to $2.56M, implying higher AUV and more complex operations that typically command larger software wallets. But that per-unit budget edge cannot close a 15:1 unit gap. A shrinking system of 965 still dwarfs a stable or growing system of 64 for immediate sales impact, and the decline is gradual enough to support multi-year replacement and upsell cycles.

Terrain is neutral—both chains operate approved-supplier models, so procurement friction is comparable. The vendor’s go-to-market motion is better served by Papa Murphy’s volume, where even a contracting base offers a large, monetizable installed base right now. The urgency is to capture share before further contraction, but the numbers leave no doubt about where the pipeline sits today.

Verdict: Papa Murphy’s is the stronger software-sales opportunity right now because its massive franchised TAM outweighs negative unit growth and lower per-unit budget potential.