A format proven in two shops, forty square metres, three people per shift. For those who want to run the counter and for those who want to put in the capital: two roads, the same numbers.
A Casa Spaghetti fits in forty square metres with a window on the street. Inside there is a machine for the pasta sheets, two burners, a counter and a person who talks to whoever walks in. It needs no restaurant kitchen and no chef: that is what keeps the rent low, the payroll low and the margin high.
What it needs is a brand people recognise from the pavement: the yellow bowl, the chequered band, the joke on the t-shirt. We have invested in that from day one, on social media and by word of mouth, and we bring it to every new city.
The rest is a written format: operating manuals, recipes, suppliers, the online menu and the till. Whoever opens learns it in four weeks in Tropea. Whoever invests entrusts it to a shop manager we train together, and reads the numbers every month.
Tropea 2022, Salerno 2025
the smallest is thirty-five
unit EBITDA, from year three
eighteen in the base case
Figures come from the 2026 dossier and the two shops already open. The business plan is built on your city and your rent, and Tropea's actual accounts are read under a non-disclosure agreement.
The format and the terms are the same. What changes is who runs the counter and how many shops open.
The classic way: you are the owner and for the first months you work the counter. Four weeks of training in Tropea, then our crew at your opening.
You put in the capital, not the time. A shop manager we select and train with you runs the shop; the salary is already in the P&L. You read the reports every month.
Three shops in thirty-six months in a province or a region, with exclusivity on the area and first pick on locations. From the second shop the fee goes down.
Forty square metres, three people per shift, lunch and dinner every day. Percentages of revenue.
| Item | Year one | At maturity, year three |
|---|---|---|
| Tickets per day | 95 | 125 |
| Average ticket | €11.00 | €11.50 |
| Revenue | €375,000 | €520,000 |
| Cost of goods, food and bowls | 31% | 28% |
| Staff, manager included | 32% | 27% |
| Rent and utilities | 11% | 8% |
| Royalty and marketing | 7% | 7% |
| Other costs | 10% | 8% |
| Operating margin (EBITDA) | 9%, €33,750 | 22%, €114,400 |
Typical unit of the 2026 dossier, built on the two shops already open. Rent is the number that changes most from one city to the next: above 10% of revenue the plan is redone. The average ticket is one bowl and one drink.
A small shop means a secondary street at a low rent, or a corner on a main one. Rent stays under ten per cent of revenue.
Semolina and eggs, nine recipes with ingredients that repeat, little waste. Cost of goods stays under thirty per cent, and a bowl is worth more than a sandwich.
The format is written for people who learn in four weeks. Staff is the biggest cost after food, and it is the one a small shop keeps under control.
The yellow bowl carried down the street is our most seen advert. In a new city the brand arrives before the shop, from social media and from the bag.
The name, the bowl, the bag, the t-shirts, the shop fit-out in yellow and chequers. Everything people see from the street.
Opening, counter, fresh pasta, till, closing. Written on the two shops already open and updated every time we learn something.
Four weeks in Tropea, at the counter with us, for whoever runs the shop. Then our crew at your opening for two weeks.
The nine recipes with quantities, the suppliers for semolina, guanciale, Tropea onion and 'nduja, and the terms we have negotiated.
The brand's social profiles, the launch campaign in your city, weekly content. Word of mouth you create with the bowl.
The till, the online menu, the reports we read together every month, and a visit to the shop every quarter. Whoever invests without working the counter sees what we see.
Or a flow of tourists or students worth as much. The shop lives on footfall, not on bookings: a street people walk down every day.
With a street window and an extraction flue, or we look together. A shopping centre works if it has a street exit.
If you open, you work the counter for the first months. If you invest, a manager we choose together does: the person matters as much as the city.
Including fit-out, machines and the entry fee, with no mortgage on the premises. We assess financing with our bank.
Seven steps, usually between six and nine months. Investors take the same steps, with the manager in training in their place.
The form at the bottom of this page, with the profile you choose. We reply within two working days.
In Tropea over a bowl, or on video. We talk about you, the city and the numbers.
Once the non-disclosure agreement is signed, you read Tropea's and Salerno's actual accounts and spend a day at the counter. This is where the decision is made.
We visit the premises you have in mind together, or we search. Footfall, neighbours, rent: the business plan is redone on those premises.
Five years, exclusivity on your area, the financial dossier built on your premises.
Four weeks at the Tropea counter, for you or for your manager. Fresh pasta, till, social media.
Fit-out, launch campaign in your city, and two weeks with the Tropea crew at your counter.
| Item | One shop | Area developer |
|---|---|---|
| Entry fee | €15,000 | €15,000 for the first, €10,000 from the second |
| Royalty | 5% of revenue | 5% of revenue |
| Marketing contribution | 2% of revenue | 2% of revenue |
| Investment | €80,000 to €120,000 | from €300,000 for three shops |
| Floor area | 35 to 70 m² | 35 to 70 m² each |
| Staff | 3 to 5 people | 3 to 5 per shop, plus an area manager |
| Term | 5 years, renewable | 5 years per shop, renewable |
| Exclusivity | on the shop's area | on the province or region, with three openings in 36 months |
| What Casa Spaghetti earns | fee, royalty and marketing | fee, royalty and marketing |
Royalty and marketing are on revenue, not on margin: we earn if the shop sells, which is why the format is written to sell in a small shop. The business plan for your shop is built on the city and the rent.
Two shops open and a plan for six by 2028: Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily on the coast, plus the university cities of central and northern Italy, where the bowl lives all year round. We follow the first franchise openings one by one, with the Tropea crew.
The first shop, the lab. Operating break-even in month four
The second, same format, in a city with footfall all year
The first franchise openings, six by 2028
The dossier has the P&L of the typical unit, the investment item by item, the draft contract and the index of the manuals. Tropea's and Salerno's monthly accounts are read after the non-disclosure agreement. We send it within two working days.
The dossier's typical unit makes a nine per cent operating margin in year one and twenty-two at maturity, with payback between eighteen and twenty-four months. It depends above all on the rent and on the street's footfall: that is why the plan is redone on your premises before signing.
Yes. A shop manager we select together runs it and does the four weeks in Tropea; the salary is already inside the P&L. You receive the reports every month and a visit from our team every quarter.
The entry fee, the five per cent royalty and the two per cent marketing contribution, all on revenue. We earn if the shop sells, not if it spends: it is the reason the format is small and the costs are written down.
No. You need to enjoy the counter, or know how to choose someone who does, and to run a team of three. Fresh pasta and the till are learnt in four weeks.
The shop, with the machine that is part of the fit-out. The sheets are rolled in the morning and the window shows it: it is one of the reasons people walk in, and it needs no kitchen.
The manuals, the shared suppliers, the quarterly visit and the monthly till reports. Whoever opens a second shop does so after the first year of the first: it is the simplest control there is.
Yes, Casa Spaghetti is a registered trademark and stays ours: the contract grants its use for the term and on the area. The manuals and recipes are confidential.
Yes, written into the contract. For one shop it is the surrounding area; for the area developer it is the province or region, provided three shops open within thirty-six months.
Between three and five months if the premises already exist. The four weeks of training happen while the shop is fitted out.
The contract provides for an exit and for the sale of the shop to another franchisee we approve. We see it coming from the monthly reports, and the bowl stays ours: the shop can change its sign.
Nine fields, and the profile you want to come in with. We reply within two working days, and the first interview happens over a bowl.
The franchising team
+39 389 096 0106Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm CET. We speak English.
WhatsAppBy email
franchising@casaspaghetti.comPut "dossier" in the subject line and you receive it within two days.
If you already have premises or a space to propose, put it in the message with the street and the square metres.