Posiflex
nce and any support contracts, upgrades and updates for your systems will be determined by your selected systems’ suppliers. We have approved the Xpient Iris on NCR RealPOS CX7 or Posiflex XT8315 hard
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Citadel Panda Express
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Citadel Panda Express is controlled at the corporate level, with Co-CEOs Andrew and Peggy Cherng and CFO David Landsberg among the key decision-makers named in the 2026 FDD. The chain operates 2,607 total units—2,423 company-owned and 184 franchised—and mandates specific POS hardware from Posiflex and NCR. For vendors, this means a concentrated, high-volume sales opportunity with a single buying center.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
2,607
184 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
$1.72M
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
8%
of gross sales
Ad fund
0%
national + local
Initial fee
$25K
per unit
Investment range
$515K–$3.28M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisee discretion
from the filing
Item 19
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.
8%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
Systems named in Item 11 of this filing. None is recorded as mandated here, which is not the same as the filing mandating nothing. Read Item 11 before treating the category as open.
Xpient
any optional or required maintenance and any support contracts, upgrades and updates for your systems will be determined by your selected systems’ suppliers. We have approved the Xpient Iris on NCR Re
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
19 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 explicit no's; 10 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
If we designated or authorized a specific point-of-sale system, then you must ensure that we have continuous access to that system and the data contained therein, and we are authorized to view or retrieve data from that system at any
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Licensee Panda Express — License Agreement April 17, 2026 Page 28 00000041.0 shall submit each quarter a financial statement prepared according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) for the preceding quarter within fifteen (15) days of the end of such preceding quarter.
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to purchase, use and offer such Designated Equipment, Products and Services, as are specified by us in the System Standards from time to time, but is subject to change.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
We and our Affiliates reserve the right to derive revenues and to receive discounts, commissions, rebates, promotional allowances and other economic benefits as a result of purchases by licensees of Designated Products and Services from us, from an Affiliate or from any other designated supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
We may approve, or revoke or deny approval, of particular items or suppliers in our sole and absolute discretion.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
After any Termination and/or expiration of the Agreement and/or the Operating Term for a Restaurant, you agree to immediately notify the applicable telephone company, service provider and/or listing agency, as applicable, that you are no longer authorized to use telephone numbers, domain names, Internet…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must comply with the then-current Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and any revision to it adapted by the PCI Security Standards Council, LLC (the “PCI Council”) or any successor organization and any standards we may specify.
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesItem 11
You must participate in any customer survey efforts we request, ask your customers to participate in them if requested to do so and incur the cost of food associated with coupons given to customers for completing the surveys.
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
Periodically inspect and/or evaluate your Restaurant operations and provide guidance regarding the operation of your Restaurant.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We have the continuing right to revise the Manuals upon not less than thirty (30) days written notice to you.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must not operate any Restaurant, use the Marks or make any commitments regarding a site until you have our written site authorization.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 16
You must offer and sell only for retail consumption and not for wholesale, bulk or other unauthorized purposes, only those Products and Services expressly authorized by us and obtained from suppliers expressly approved by us.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Therefore, you agree to purchase all goods, products and supplies used in your Restaurant(s) exclusively from us, our Affiliates, or suppliers designated by us in our sole discretion, unless otherwise authorized by us in writing.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
All payments of Royalty (and any other payments due to us hereunder during the Term) will be made by an Automated Clearing House or other electronic transfer system approved by Franchisor (“ACH”) or by bank-wire transfer upon telephone or electronic confirmation with the receiving bank or by such other means we…
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 11
Licensees shall always maintain on payroll, staffing and training certifications for at least: one (1) certified Store Manager/Assistant Manager, six (6) certified Cooks regardless of weekly sales (and 1 more for each increment of $8,000.00 weekly sales in excess of $7,000.00 per week), and 4 to 6 certified service…
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
All employees, including managers, must wear the Panda Uniform while working in a Restaurant and at no time shall the Panda Uniform be worn while working in any other business.
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We have the right to full access to your point of sale and computer systems and all information and data these systems contain.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We charge a fee for remedial training, which is currently $500 per each service and travel day for each of our staff members engaged in the remedial training.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
You must send a Store Manager, a Kitchen Manager, and an Assistant Manager for each new Restaurant to the next available semi-annual Panda leadership conference (“PLC”).
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Item 11
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
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.
Formal HQ procurement; C-suite sponsor + cross-functional committee + IT/security/legal; often PE-backed.
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 Citadel Panda Express
Citadel Panda Express operates 2,607 quick-service restaurants across the United States, with 2,423 company-owned locations and just 184 franchised units. That ownership structure concentrates software purchasing authority at the corporate headquarters in California. For a SaaS vendor, this means you are selling into a single, large buyer rather than navigating a fragmented network of independent franchisees. The average unit volume sits at $1,715,919, signaling healthy per-location revenue that can support ongoing technology investment.
The chain’s scale and company-owned dominance make it a high-value target for any vendor selling operational, financial, or marketing software into the QSR segment. With no parent company on file, Panda Express appears independently owned, so the decision-making chain is contained within one organization.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document names five executives in Item 1: Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Andrew Jin-Chan Cherng and Peggy Tsiang Cherng, CFO David Landsberg, Chief Brand Officer Andrea Cherng, and Chief Development Officer James Ku. While no dedicated CIO or CTO is listed, the presence of the CFO and Co-CEOs suggests that financial and operational leadership jointly evaluate technology investments. Vendors should prepare ROI-focused business cases that speak to both cost control and operational efficiency.
No multi-unit operators are mapped in our corpus, reinforcing that purchasing power is centralized at HQ rather than distributed across large franchisee groups.
Mandated and current tech stack
Item 11 of the FDD mandates specific point-of-sale hardware: the Posiflex XT8315 and Xpient Iris running on NCR RealPOS CX7. These are the only technology systems explicitly named in the available data. No additional mandated or recommended software—such as inventory management, labor scheduling, or loyalty platforms—is disclosed. This gap represents a potential opening for complementary solutions that integrate with the existing POS environment.
Vendors offering middleware, analytics, or back-office tools that sit atop NCR or Posiflex hardware should highlight compatibility and ease of integration when approaching HQ.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the formal supplier designation process—whether designated, approved, or open—is not publicly known. Similarly, Item 17 provides no renewal terms, and the initial franchise term length is not disclosed. Without these signals, vendors cannot map contract expiration cycles or predictable RFP windows.
What is clear: with over 2,400 company-owned units, any technology change is a corporate-level decision. Monitoring leadership changes, earnings calls, or public statements from the named executives may offer the best clues about upcoming technology initiatives.
How to read the Citadel Panda Express FDD
The 2026 FDD is embedded below for full review. It is filed with state franchise regulators and contains the legal and operational disclosures required under the FTC Franchise Rule. For software vendors, the most relevant sections are Item 1 (executives), Item 11 (mandated technology), and Item 8 (procurement restrictions, though absent here). Reading the FDD directly gives you the same factual foundation we use to assess vendor fit—without speculation.
If you need a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software’s ideal customer profile, FranCloud can help you prioritize accounts using unit counts, tech mandates, and ownership structure.
Questions vendors ask
Citadel Panda Express, answered from the filing
The 2026 FDD lists Co-CEOs Andrew and Peggy Cherng, CFO David Landsberg, Chief Brand Officer Andrea Cherng, and Chief Development Officer James Ku as key executives. No dedicated CIO is named, but financial and operational leadership likely drive tech decisions.
The FDD mandates Posiflex XT8315 and Xpient Iris on NCR RealPOS CX7 hardware. No other mandated or recommended software systems are disclosed in the available data.
As of the 2026 FDD, there are 2,607 total US units—2,423 company-owned and 184 franchised—making it one of the largest quick-service restaurant chains by unit count.
The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the designated-supplier versus approved-supplier model is not publicly disclosed. Vendors should inquire directly about becoming an approved vendor.
The FDD does not provide an Item 17 renewal extract or initial term length, so contract cycle timing is not publicly known. Monitoring executive changes or unit growth may signal upcoming opportunities.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to read the full disclosure document directly on this page.
Source
Read the filing itself
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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 Citadel Panda Express files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
4 operators run 4 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit4
Top states by locations
| WI | 1 |
|---|
Ownership
The portfolio behind Citadel Panda Express
unknown of panda express.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.