How many franchisees include the brand in the trade name of their CNPJ

When opening the unit's CNPJ (Brazilian company registry), the franchisee decides what to enter in the trade name field, and that decision determines whether the establishment can be found in the open data of Receita Federal (the federal tax authority) through a search for the brand. We call registry adherence the ratio between the active CNPJs that carry the brand in the trade name and the number of units that the network declares publicly, and the indicator measures how much of each network is visible in administrative records. Since version 3.0, the denominator is the number of addresses that the network itself lists in the store locator on its website, counted by the observatory.

Among the 493 networks with at least 30 listed addresses, the median is 61%, with half of the networks between 36% and 89%. Adherence is highest in health, beauty and wellness, with a median of 79%, and lowest in tourism and hospitality, with 26%. 76 networks fall below 25%, generally models in which the unit does not open its own company or operates inside another business, and 76 have more CNPJs with the brand than addresses on the website, which occurs when the list is outdated, when a unit keeps more than one CNPJ or when closed establishments remain active in the registry.

Low adherence concerns how the registry is filled in, not the size of the network. Not repeating the brand in the trade name is common and legitimate, and it occurs when the franchisee uses the legal name of its own company, when it registers the name of a family holding company, when the unit operates under another CNPJ or when the business model does not require opening a company per location. Only 28% of the country's active establishments report any trade name, so a blank field is the most frequent situation in the full database.

How we calculate

In the open CNPJ data of Receita Federal, reference month October 2026, we counted the active establishments whose trade name matches the brand expression, in the CNAE (national classification of economic activities) subclasses expected for the business, the same figures published in each network profile. The reading covers the full database, with no sampling or extrapolation. The denominator is the number of distinct addresses that the network publishes in the store locator on its own website, collected by the observatory with one collector per network and the access date recorded, excluding units announced as upcoming, territories served and units abroad. Networks with at least 30 listed addresses are included.

Version 2.0, dated September 7, 2026, measured 23 brands with denominators from various sources, among them company documents, network pages and the cited ranking of ABF (Brazilian Franchising Association). Version 3.0, dated October 18, 2026, adopts a single denominator, published by the network itself, and the file of the previous version remains available in the Open data section. The edition of November 8, 2026 uses the same method for reference month October 2026.

Calculated on November 8, 2026. Method version 3.0. Sample: 493 networks with at least 30 listed addresses. Corrected on September 7, 2026; September 6, 2026 (in Portuguese).

Frequently asked questions

Can franchise units be counted through the CNPJ?

Partly. Among 493 networks, the median ratio between CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) with the brand in the trade name and the addresses the network lists on its own website is 61%, and only 28% of the country's active establishments report any trade name.

What does low registry adherence mean?

It means that the franchisee did not repeat the brand in the trade name of the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry), which is common and legitimate. It does not mean that the network has fewer units or that there is any irregularity.

In which segment do franchises appear most in the Receita Federal database?

In health, beauty and wellness, with a median ratio of 79% between CNPJs (Brazilian company registry) with the brand and listed addresses. In tourism and hospitality, the median is 26%.

Does the count cover the entire Receita Federal database?

Yes. The reading goes through every establishment in the open CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) data, with no sampling or extrapolation.

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