Sysco
Mandatoryverage, and other inventory purchases must meet our specifications and be purchased only from approved suppliers. You may be required to use a distributor that we approve, such as Sysco. E. Delivery S
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Al's Hot Chicken
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Al's Hot Chicken is controlled at the HQ level by CEO Abdal Almasri and VP of Operations Mohamed-Nazim Gomri, as disclosed in the 2022 FDD. The brand currently operates 2 company-owned units with no franchised locations, making the addressable market extremely small. Their mandated tech stack includes Sysco for procurement, alongside 7shifts, Altametrics, and QuickBooks.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
2
0 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2022
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$30K
per unit
Investment range
$193K–$459K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
No claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
7%of gross sales (FY2022)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
7shifts
use a point-of-sale system and computer system as follows: • The TOAST POS System (although we may approve of another POS system which meets our requirements and is compatible); • 7Shifts/7 Punches em
Altametrics
Hot Chicken in Los Angeles, California, since 10/2020. Since 2/2021, Mr. Gomri has held the position of Enterprise Business Development Consultant and International Relations with Altametrics in Los A
QuickBooks
hifts/7 Punches employee scheduling software; • At least 3 digital menu boards from Optisign; • A personal computer with associated peripherals, internet and email capability, and QuickBooks and Micro
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
24 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 explicit no's; 5 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall give Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising unlimited access to Franchisee’s point of sale system and other software systems used in the Business, by any means designated by Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall provide such periodic financial reports as Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising may require in the Manual or otherwise in writing, including: (i) a monthly profit and loss statement and balance sheet for the Business within 30 days after the end of each calendar month; (ii) an annual financial statement…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Our affiliate, AHC is currently a supplier of the spice blends which you must purchase as part of the franchised business operations.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising may change any such requirement or change the status of any vendor.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
Our revenue from all required purchases and leases of products and services by franchisees in the prior fiscal year was $0.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising may receive rebates, payments, or other consideration from vendors in connection with purchases by franchisees.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
50Item 8
We estimate that the required purchases and leases of goods and services to operate your business are 50% to 80% of your total purchases and leases of goods and services to operate your business.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you want to use a supplier that is not on our list of approved suppliers, you must request our approval in writing.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must at all times comply with payment card industry data security standards (PCI-DSS).
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall participate at its own expense in programs required from time to time by Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising for obtaining customer evaluations, reviewing Franchisee’s compliance with the System, and/or managing customer complaints, which may include (but are not limited to) a customer feedback system…
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising may enter the premises of the Business from time to time during normal business hours and conduct an inspection.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising may supplement, revise, or modify the Manual, and Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising may change, add, or delete System Standards at any time in its discretion.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must find a potential site and submit your site to us for approval, together with all information and documents about the site that we request.
Marketing
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
After you open, you must spend 2% of gross sales each month on marketing your business.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall sell or otherwise issue gift cards, certificates, or other pre-paid systems, and participate in any customer loyalty programs, membership/subscription programs, or customer incentive programs, designated by Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising, in the manner specified by Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising in the…
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesFranchise agreement
If a Market Cooperative for the geographic area encompassing the Location has been established at the time Franchisee commences operations hereunder, Franchisee shall immediately become a member of such Market Cooperative.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You may be required to use a distributor that we approve, such as Sysco.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase the specified equipment, supplies and food products from the approved vendors which we specify.
Payments
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
At its own expense, Franchisee shall sell or otherwise issue gift cards, certificates, or other pre-paid systems, and participate in any customer loyalty programs, membership/subscription programs, or customer incentive programs, designated by Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising, in the manner specified by Al’s Hot Chicken…
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall cause its personnel to comply with any dress attire, uniform, personal appearance, and hygiene standards set forth in the Manual.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase (or lease) the point-of-sale software and hardware, and related software and hardware, that we specify.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall give Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising unlimited access to Franchisee’s point of sale system and other software systems used in the Business, by any means designated by Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
Otherwise, we do not currently require additional training programs or refresher courses, but we have the right to do so.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
The Principal Executive shall use reasonable efforts to attend all in-person meetings and remote meetings (such as telephone or video conference calls) that Al’s Hot Chicken Franchising requires, including any national or regional brand conventions.
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?Item 11
- Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?Item 8
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Franchise agreement
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 11
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?Item 11
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
- 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
- Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
- 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.
The vendor opportunity at Al's Hot Chicken
Al's Hot Chicken is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in California with a total footprint of just 2 units, both company-owned. The 2022 FDD reports no franchised locations, and year-over-year unit growth is not disclosed. For software vendors, the addressable market is limited to these two locations and the centralized HQ. Average unit volume (AUV) is not available in the filing, and the royalty rate stands at 5.0% on a 10-year initial term. This is a very small target, but one where a single relationship with leadership could cover the entire system.
Who controls software purchasing
Software purchasing authority sits with the two executives named in Item 1 of the 2022 FDD: CEO Abdal Almasri and Vice President of Operations Mohamed-Nazim Gomri. With no parent company on file and an operator footprint of just one mapped operator (zero multi-unit), there is no layered franchisee decision-making to navigate. Any vendor pitch must reach these two individuals. The operator data shows a unit-band split of 1:1 for single-unit operators, with no operators in the 2-9, 10-24, or 25+ bands, confirming that all units are under direct HQ control.
Mandated and current tech stack
The FDD mandates Sysco for procurement, a significant signal for vendors in the supply chain and inventory management space. Beyond that, the brand uses 7shifts for scheduling, Altametrics for back-office operations, and QuickBooks for accounting. No point-of-sale system is named as mandated or recommended in the available disclosures, which may represent an opening for POS or integrated payment vendors. The absence of a mandated POS means the current stack could be replaced or supplemented if the HQ team sees value.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD, which typically details procurement and designated suppliers, was not extracted in the available data. This leaves the formal procurement model unclear—whether the brand uses a designated supplier, approved supplier, or open model beyond the Sysco mandate. On renewals, Item 17 indicates that a successor franchise agreement may be offered on additional terms, with materially different conditions than the original contract. Renewal requires advance notice, compliance with all obligations, renovation to then-current standards, and signing the current form of franchise agreement along with a personal guaranty and general release. The 10-year initial term and these renewal conditions suggest that any long-term software contracts would need to align with the franchise lifecycle, though with only two units, the concept is not yet at scale for typical renewal-driven sales cycles.
How to read the Al's Hot Chicken FDD
The 2022 Franchise Disclosure Document is the source for all unit counts, executive names, mandated vendors, and contractual terms referenced here. It was filed with state franchise regulators and is embedded below for direct review. Vendors should pay particular attention to Item 1 (executives), Item 11 (mandated systems), and Item 17 (renewal terms) to validate the tech landscape and identify any changes in subsequent filings. For a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize based on real FDD data.
Questions vendors ask
Al's Hot Chicken, answered from the filing
CEO Abdal Almasri and VP of Operations Mohamed-Nazim Gomri are the named executives in the 2022 FDD. With only 2 company-owned units, purchasing decisions are centralized with this small leadership team.
The 2022 FDD mandates Sysco for procurement. Additional systems in use include 7shifts for scheduling, Altametrics for back-office, and QuickBooks for accounting. No mandated POS is disclosed.
There are 2 total units, both company-owned and located in California. No franchised units are reported in the 2022 FDD.
The 2022 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the designated vs. approved supplier model is not publicly disclosed. Sysco is the only mandated vendor named.
With a 10-year initial term and renewal conditions requiring a new agreement with materially different terms, contract windows are unpredictable. The tiny unit count means any software sale would be a one-off HQ decision.
The 2022 FDD was filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below to verify all tech, executive, and unit data cited on this page.
Source
Read the filing itself
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Al's Hot Chicken files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
1 operators run 1 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit1
Top states by locations
| CA | 1 |
|---|
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.