Baya Bar
Açaí bowl and smoothie franchise · 42+ locations · NYC, Long Island, Salt Lake City area, Boston area, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and 3 other states
An açaí chain built to look like a neighborhood independent, down to the hand-painted menu boards, but really a franchise system: 38 of its 42 shops belong to franchisees who bought in. Its açaí comes from Brazil, with no supplier named.
The Big Picture
Baya Bar has taken no outside investment and its founder still runs the brand, which is rarer than it sounds for a chain this size. The gap is downstream: açaí is the entire product, the US Department of Labor lists Brazilian açaí among goods produced with child labor, and Baya Bar names no supplier, importer or certifier for it. With 38 of 42 shops franchised and no system-wide wage standard published, pay and conditions are set shop by shop by the operators who bought in.
The Dirty Details
What do these scores mean? Learn more.
Make a New Choice
Company data last updated September 2026
How does one person build and research all this? They don't: here's how it actually works. Verdicts are our opinions, based on the public sources cited above as of September 2026. Spotted something off? or learn more.