Chocolate Bash vs Papa Murphy's

Chocolate Bash is the sharper near-term play, and it wins on timing and terrain. A 62.5% YoY unit growth rate across a small, young system means every new location is a greenfield software decision—no legacy vendor to rip out, no corporate procurement gatekeeper hardened by years of RFP process. The lower investment range ($202K–$385K) also signals franchisees who are less capitalized and more likely to buy an all-in-one stack from a single vendor rather than stitching together best-of-breed point solutions. That’s a fast, high-attach-rate sales cycle if you move with the brand’s expansion.

Papa Murphy’s wins on total addressable market—965 franchised units is a massive installed base—but it’s a trap if you’re selling net-new seats today. Negative unit growth and a mature, approved-supplier procurement model mean you’re fighting churn-and-replace battles against entrenched incumbents. The higher investment range ($450K–$693K) also attracts multi-unit operators with existing vendor relationships, so deal velocity will be glacial. The 5% royalty and 2% ad fund don’t leave much operational slack for franchisees to experiment with new software, further compressing your win rate.

The meaningful tradeoff is velocity versus volume. Chocolate Bash gives you a tight, expanding footprint where you can become the default stack as the brand scales from 16 to 100+ units. Papa Murphy’s offers a large but contracting universe of prospects who are mostly locked up. If you’re allocating scarce sales resources right now, you chase the tailwind, not the anchor.

Verdict: Chocolate Bash is the stronger software-sales opportunity right now because its unit growth and greenfield decision-making outweigh Papa Murphy’s sheer size.