Young Chefs Academy Franchise
Young Chefs® Academy is the nation's leading kids' cooking franchise — a purpose-built, culinary education brand where children from preschool through high school learn to measure, mix, sauté, and master real culinary skills in a fun, hands-on environment. Serious Fun. Experts in kids cooking. Inspiring a new generation.
$100,000
$50,000
30
2014
Waco, TX
Leigh Feldman
About Young Chefs Academy
Young Chefs® Academy is a fun, scalable business that meets kids where they are by offering several skill levels to carry students from pre-school through high school: KinderCooks®, JuniorChefs™, and SeniorChefs™.
At every step, kids learn to prepare dishes of varying complexity, which gives them confidence in and out of the kitchen. Along the way, students are learning valuable life lessons about where food comes from, different customs and cultures, nutrition, teamwork, leadership, just to name a few!
Franchise Unit Trends & Revenue
30
5
$289,709
* in 2025
Franchise Fees
$50,000
Veteran's Fee: $45,000
6.0%
Gross Sales
2.0%
Gross Sales
Why Choose Young Chefs Academy?
The Young Chefs® Academy cooking franchise model is built around a membership platform, where parents enroll their children in a series of kid-friendly culinary classes. Each class is an entirely new experience planned around a unique monthly theme, incorporating culinary skills that build upon each other. This allows progression into more complex food preparation and presentation. The model enables owners to benefit from a recurring revenue stream, and offers programs such as Camps, Classes, Parties, and Events, and offers Real estate and Staffing support, Continual Training, Operations and Marketing support, Curriculum, Classroom management tools, and national footprint having operated for 22+ years!
Six diversified revenue streams: memberships, parties, camps, workshops & events, retail, adult workshops
- Recurring revenue from a proven monthly membership model
- Proprietary, Montessori-inspired, STEAM-based curriculum
- Trusted, parent-loved brand — 4.9★ Google rating, 9,200+ reviews
- As seen on CNN, ABC, Food Network, Disney, Inc., Fox, Blippi, Working Mother
- 20+ years of category leadership; founded 2003 by Julie Burleson
Starting Costs & Investment Requirements
$238,735 - $563,164
$250,000
$100,000
Training & Support
Support begins the moment you sign your Franchise Agreement and continues for the life of your business. Your 4-day on-site training follows a proven "Teach them, Show them, Let them Try" curriculum so you and your manager can confidently run every aspect of your YCA location. Corporate leads pre-opening site selection and build-out with our national real-estate partner Morrow Hill, plus operational and training support, marketing tools, curriculum tools, technology tools, and ongoing business coaching — including monthly benchmark reports, group coaching calls, and an annual conference.
- 4-day on-site initial training for franchisee + manager
- Proprietary POS & customer-management system included
- Site Selection and National real-estate partner (Morrow Hill)
- Design and buildout assistance with national real estate and architectural partners
- Grand opening & re-grand opening marketing support
- Monthly benchmark reports, quarterly check-ins, annual conference
- Proprietary curriculum updated continuously; classroom management training
- Low staffing model: 3–6 part-time employees; no formal culinary training required
History
Founded in 2004, Young Chefs Academy has established itself as a leader in recreational cooking education, offering structured classes, workshops, and camps designed specifically for young aspiring chefs. Their curriculum goes beyond basic cooking instruction – it incorporates mathematics through measuring, chemistry through understanding ingredient interactions, and cultural awareness through international cuisine exploration. The Young Chefs Academy vision of cultivating/serving children’s strong interest in the culinary arts has allowed it to expand nationally with 30+ locations throughout the United States.
What sets Young Chefs Academy apart is their commitment to creating a fun, safe, and educational environment where children can develop confidence, teamwork skills, and a lifelong appreciation for healthy eating habits. Their programs cater to various age groups, ensuring age-appropriate instruction and challenges that help young chefs progress in their culinary journey.
“We teach real cooking skills, but what we really teach is confidence in the kitchen, we teach self-esteem to know that you can take care of yourself and maybe one day a partner or child, and we do it through screen free learning, hands on education, tactile experiences, and STEM/STEAM based curriculum that meets each child at the level they are at,” says CEO Leigh Feldman.
Ideal Candidate
We want a candidate that enjoys being around kids and families and that is excited about making connections in their community to help build their business. A culinary and/or education background is not required – we teach people how to teach cooking, and we teach you how to teach it to kids, families, and adults. We want people with fun personalities, or that understand that if they are not that, that they can have a team to be the face of their brand in the classrooms. This means you are self-aware, comfortable speaking with people, and care about processes and opportunities to find improvements. We welcome feedback and want people that consider themselves communicative and will speak up if something is needed. We say our Owners are the conductor of the orchestra – they don’t need to know how to play the instruments, but they understand how to bring everything together to create a remarkable experience.