Japanese Taiyaki and Soft-Serve Dessert Franchise Concept

Oneko is a Japanese dessert concept centered around taiyaki — a fish-shaped waffle-style cone — filled with soft-serve ice cream and customizable toppings. Originally established in Albuquerque as a specialty dessert shop featuring unique Japanese-inspired flavors and creative presentation, the brand delivers a one-of-a-kind dessert experience focused on quality, flavor diversity, and visual appeal.

With rising demand for experiential dessert concepts and premium soft-serve in retail food environments, Oneko offers a fun, social, and visually engaging concept that attracts a broad customer base, from families to young adults and tourists seeking unique treats.

A Unique Dessert Experience With Broad Appeal

Dessert trends continue to favor novel and Instagram-worthy food experiences. Oneko leverages culturally distinct Japanese street-food traditions and combines them with familiar soft-serve ice cream favorites to create an approachable yet standout dessert brand.

Core offerings include taiyaki cones filled with soft-serve ice cream, a variety of classic and inventive flavors, and a wide array of toppings that encourage repeat visits and customizable orders.

Signature Taiyaki Cones and Cups

Oneko serves taiyaki cones and cups with soft-serve ice cream, allowing guests to enjoy a playful and delicious dessert format that stands out from traditional ice cream shops. The design of the fish-shaped cone adds a cultural twist that enhances brand identity.

Creative and Rotating Flavors

Soft-serve offerings include classic, seasonal, and specialty flavors that appeal to local tastes and adventurous visitors alike. Toppings range from traditional sweet options to culturally inspired combinations that deepen the unique brand appeal.

Customizable Dessert Experience

Guests can build their own custom dessert combinations with a variety of sweet toppings and flavor pairings, allowing for personal creativity and repeat visit motivation.

The Oneko Franchise Opportunity

Oneko combines a visually dynamic dessert experience with a scalable operational model well suited for food halls, high-traffic retail centers, beachfront promenades, and walkable entertainment districts. The concept thrives in environments with strong foot traffic and demand for social food experiences.

Distinct, Memorable Brand Identity

By blending Japanese street food aesthetics with familiar frozen dessert favorites, Oneko creates a memorable brand that stands out in competitive dessert and food service markets.

Flexible Footprint Model

The concept can be executed in traditional storefronts, kiosks, and food hall spaces — allowing franchise owners to choose the format that best fits their market and investment appetite.

High Repeat and Social Engagement Potential

The customizable nature of the desserts and visually appealing presentation builds social shareability and encourages repeat visits from locals and visitors alike.

Ideal Oneko Franchise Owner

The ideal franchise partner is customer-focused, operations capable, and excited about bringing unique food experiences to their community. Prior dessert or restaurant experience can be helpful but is not required.

• Passion for food, hospitality, and customer service
• Organized and operationally disciplined
• Comfortable managing retail food operations
• Creative and engaged with local communities
• Committed to maintaining quality and brand standards

Training and Ongoing Support

Franchise partners receive comprehensive training and support designed to help them launch confidently and operate consistently with the brand experience.

Initial Franchise Training

Training covers dessert preparation techniques, flavor rotation planning, customer service protocols, store operations, and quality control processes to ensure consistency.

Operational and Launch Support

Support includes guidance on site build-out, equipment setup, supply procurement, inventory management, and initial staffing assistance to help franchisees establish a strong foundation.

Marketing and Customer Engagement Support

Franchise owners receive brand marketing guidance, local promotional planning tools, and social media strategies to build awareness and attract repeat customers.

Build a Sweet, Standout Dessert Brand

Oneko provides an opportunity to operate a memorable dessert franchise concept rooted in creativity, cultural fusion, and high visual appeal. With a flexible footprint and strong experiential value, the brand is positioned to grow in markets seeking differentiated food experiences.

To get started, fill out the franchise form.

This is not a franchise offering. A franchise offering can be made by us only in a state if we are first registered, excluded, exempted or otherwise qualified to offer franchises in that state, and only if we provide you with an appropriate franchise disclosure document. Follow-up or individualized responses to you that involve either effecting or attempting to effect the sale of a franchise will be made only if we are first in compliance with state registration requirements, or are covered by an applicable state exclusion or exemption.