Cascadia Pizza Co. vs Papa Murphy's

Cascadia Pizza Co. looks like a boutique play with a healthy per-unit revenue number, but the math collapses when you size the total addressable market. Three franchised units means your maximum deal count is in single digits, and even a 100% attach rate yields pocket change in annual recurring revenue. The AUV is respectable at $1.1M, but that doesn’t translate into a bigger software budget when the franchisee pool is this thin—you’re selling into a handful of operators who likely run lean and make ad-hoc tech decisions.

Papa Murphy’s gives you terrain and timing advantages that Cascadia simply can’t match. With 965 franchised units, you’re looking at a real pipeline, not a one-and-done account list. The negative unit growth (-3.6% YoY) is actually a tailwind for software sales: shrinking systems put pressure on franchisees to cut labor, streamline operations, and consolidate vendors, which means your POS and back-office pitch lands with urgency. The lower royalty (5%) and modest franchise fee ($25K) leave more operator cash flow on the table for tech spend, and the investment range topping out near $693K signals franchisees have capital to deploy on operational improvements.

The tradeoff is brand trajectory versus install base. Cascadia is growing from a tiny base and might feel more modern, but you’re betting on future units that don’t exist yet. Papa Murphy’s is contracting, but contraction creates churn and churn creates buying windows—every franchisee renegotiating their lease or labor model is a prospect for automation and efficiency software. The approved-supplier procurement model on both sides means no gatekeeping advantage either way, so volume wins.

Verdict: Papa Murphy’s is the stronger opportunity right now because a large, pressured install base unlocks more near-term deals than a tiny, healthy concept ever could.