First Data
Mandatoryurchase and maintain a monthly subscription service for credit card processing, which includes the TransArmor solution encryption, from ADQ’s designated supplier Fiserv (formerly, First Data). The cos
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Anhalt Franchising
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing decisions for Anhalt Franchising's 64 franchised quick-service restaurant locations flow through its Illinois headquarters. The most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) does not list any mandated or recommended technology systems, leaving the current tech stack undefined for outside vendors. This creates an addressable market of 64 units where the technology landscape is a blank slate, but vendor access depends entirely on engaging the right executives at the parent level.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
64
64 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
—
of gross sales
Ad fund
5%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$563K–$2.57M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
1 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. It is a floor, not a total — the filing discloses one of the two headline fees.
5%+of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
6 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.
Fiserv
Mandatory13580;1 You must purchase and maintain a monthly subscription service for credit card processing, which includes the TransArmor solution encryption, from ADQ’s designated supplier Fiserv (formerly, Fi
Olo
Mandatory0 per month for a DQ Grill & Chill restaurant or from $416 to $490 per month for a DQ Treat store. You also must pay Olo a per transaction fee of 0.25% for each order processed by Olo. Help desk and s
Punchh
Mandatoryd) ValueLink, LLC as the sole supplier of the gift cards and related services you must purchase; (e) Olo as the sole supplier of the DQ Mobile Ordering system (see Exhibit N); (f) Punchh Inc. as the s
TransArmor
Mandatoryplier Fiserv (formerly, First Data). The cost for credit card processing is about 2% - 5% of the total amount of each sale made using an approved credit card, and the cost for the TransArmor Solution
Verifone
Mandatoryand labor and inventory management; (b) Fiserv (formerly, FirstData Merchant Services) as the sole supplier of payment card processing and related services you must purchase; (c) Verifone as the sole
Google Analytics
cts or services to the DQ system. As of December 31, 2025, some ADQ officers owned interests in the following companies that supply products or services to the DQ system: Cargill, Google Analytics/Fir
PAR Ops
ng may include topics related to ADQ system standards and policies, emergency and crisis management, project and change management, managing the business, building bench strength, PAR Ops (financial,
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
21 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 1 explicit no; 12 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
ADQ or its affiliates may sell advertising and sales promotion materials, and other food and non-food products used in the franchised business to franchisees and subfranchisees, to authorized warehouses, or otherwise for use in the DQ system.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 6
The franchise advisory councils include the US Marketing Advisory Council (“MAC”), the Operations Advisory Council (“OPAC”), the Technology Advisory Council (“TAC”), and the Canadian Marketing Advisory Council (“CMAC”).
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
ADQ has the right to designate suppliers in place of or in addition to these suppliers.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
In 2025, we had no revenue from franchisees’ required purchases and leases from us, or from ADQ.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
IDQ and its affiliates receive fees or payments from some 3 rd party suppliers that may or may not be reasonably related to services IDQ or its affiliates provide to the suppliers.
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?
30Item 8
ADQ estimates that the purchase or lease of equipment (including computer and EPOS system hardware and software), signage, fixtures, furnishings, products, ingredients, supplies, advertising and sales promotion materials (see Item 11 for information on advertising and sales promotion materials), and services which…
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
ADQ (or a 3rd-party product evaluator) may charge the evaluation cost to you or the manufacturer.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If there is no agreement in place for a unified purchasing program, you may request approval in writing of a specific product from an alternate manufacturer, supplier or distributor of products other than those listed in (1) - (6) in the “Required Purchases” section above in this Item 8.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesItem 6
Also, you must comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/.
Franchise management
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 12
You must operate a store or restaurant at an authorized location only, which we have approved in writing.
Marketing
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 8
Punchh Inc. as the sole supplier of the DQ Mobile Loyalty platform that you must purchase (see Exhibit O)
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
ADQ always has the right to designate a single approved manufacturer, supplier or distributor for the following products: (1) soft drinks; (2) 3 rd party branded products; (3) products DQ OF NE IL-0426 30 86313580;1 relating to limited time offers and special promotions; (4) equipment, including EPOS system equipment…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
ADQ has designated ParTech, Inc. as the sole supplier of the required EPOS system hardware and software that you must purchase for your store or restaurant.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Fiserv (formerly, FirstData Merchant Services) as the sole supplier of payment card processing and related services you must purchase
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
The undersigned hereby authorizes Anhalt Franchising Incorporated, or any subsidiary corporation, to initiate ACH debit entries against the account of the undersigned with you in payment of amounts which become payable for goods and services by the undersigned to any of the above.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 6
You must participate in the system-wide gift card program administered by ValueLink, LLC and DQGC, and must sign the gift card participation agreement included in this disclosure document as Exhibit E.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
you must have 1 designated manager, and 1 assistant manager for a DQ/Dairy Queen store or 2 assistant managers for a DQ Grill & Chill restaurant
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
ADQ has designated ParTech, Inc. as the sole supplier of the required EPOS system hardware and software that you must purchase for your store or restaurant.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 6
There are no contractual limitations on our and ADQ's right to access the information generated by the EPOS system, although we or ADQ may choose not to poll information from all stores and restaurants.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You may only use or purchase products approved by us and ADQ that meet our and ADQ’s specifications.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
If you receive a default notice and the default relates, in whole or in part, to your failure to meet any operational standards, we have the right to require you to comply with additional training requirements at your expense and at the then-current training fees as a condition of curing the default.
The filing answers no to 1 question
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 6
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 franchisor's owner/CEO decides; an ops or franchise-development lead may evaluate.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 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%.
- 82.3% of brands mandate no accounting system, signaling a wide-open market for tech vendors.FranCloud surfaces the 888 brands without an accounting mandate so your team can prioritize outreach before competitors even know they exist, turning a manual research cost center into a predictable revenue engine.
- 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.
The vendor opportunity at Anhalt Franchising
Anhalt Franchising operates a network of 64 quick-service restaurant units, all of which are franchised. The system shows no company-owned locations in the 2026 FDD, meaning every unit is independently owned and operated under the brand’s franchise agreement. For software vendors, this represents a 64-unit addressable market where technology adoption is not dictated by a corporate store fleet. The absence of disclosed average unit volume or royalty rates limits financial modeling, but the uniform 10-year initial term provides a stable, long-horizon customer base if you can win the franchisor’s endorsement.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2026 FDD identifies a concentrated leadership team at the Illinois headquarters. Kieth G. Anhalt serves as President and Director of Operations and Training, a dual role that likely centralizes operational technology decisions under one executive. Troy A. Bader holds the titles of Director, Chief Executive Officer and President, adding another layer of C-level authority. John J. Evans (Vice President and Director) and John R. Evans (Secretary, Treasurer and Director) round out the core group, while Shelly O’Callaghan (Director, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary) would be the gatekeeper for any software contract that introduces legal or compliance risk. Vendors should map their outreach to Operations and Legal, as no dedicated CIO or CTO is listed.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2026 FDD does not name any mandated or recommended technology systems. This is a critical data point: it means there is no publicly documented POS, back-office, inventory, or labor management vendor with an exclusive lock on the system. For a sales team, this is both an opportunity and a challenge. You face no incumbent rip-and-replace barrier, but you also have no proof of concept within the brand. Your discovery call must uncover what franchisees are actually using today, because the franchisor has not codified it in Item 11.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD provides no extract on procurement rules, leaving the supplier designation model unknown. This could mean an open purchasing environment or simply that the disclosure was not captured in the available data. On the renewal side, Item 17 offers a clear trigger: franchisees must give written notice of renewal between three and six months before their 10-year term ends, contingent on a renewed lease and good standing. For a vendor selling multi-year SaaS contracts, this renewal window is a natural point to align your pitch with the franchisee’s own reinvestment cycle. Mapping expiration cohorts across the 64 units would surface the most immediate opportunities.
How to read the Anhalt Franchising FDD
The full 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. Focus your review on Item 11 (Franchisor’s Obligations) to confirm whether any technology requirements have been added since the last filing, and Item 8 (Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services) to identify any designated supplier mandates that would block a direct sale. Because the named executives control both operations and legal, any software pitch must address operational ROI and contractual compliance in the same conversation. For a ranked target list of franchise systems where your software category has the highest fit, FranCloud can map unit counts, renewal cycles, and tech gaps across the entire quick-service segment.
Questions vendors ask
Anhalt Franchising, answered from the filing
The 2026 FDD lists Kieth G. Anhalt as President and Director of Operations and Training, and Troy A. Bader as Director, Chief Executive Officer and President. These executives are the likely buying center for any system-wide software adoption.
The 2026 FDD does not capture any mandated or recommended technology systems. Vendors should assume no incumbent lock-in but must verify current usage directly with HQ during discovery.
The system comprises 64 total units, all of which are franchised. No company-owned locations are disclosed in the 2026 FDD.
The FDD contains no extract from Item 8 regarding designated or approved suppliers. The procurement model is not publicly defined, meaning vendors must clarify purchasing authority and supplier requirements directly with HQ.
Franchise agreements run for an initial term of 10 years. Renewal requires written notice 3–6 months before expiration, creating a predictable window to engage operators nearing the end of their term, provided lease conditions are met.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document using the embedded PDF viewer below to analyze Item 11 obligations and Item 8 supplier requirements in detail.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
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We’ll email you the moment Anhalt Franchising files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
474 operators run 474 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit474
Top states by locations
| IL | 242 |
|---|---|
| MN | 25 |
| WI | 15 |
| PA | 14 |
| OH | 14 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Anhalt Franchising
unknown of american dairy queen.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.