Crisp & Green

The vendor opportunity at Crisp & Green

Crisp & Green is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in Minnesota with 46 total units—45 franchised and 1 company-owned—as disclosed in its 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document. The brand posted a 60.7% year-over-year unit growth rate, signaling an active expansion phase that creates recurring technology evaluation moments for software vendors. Average unit volume sits at $1,487,056, and franchisees pay a 7.0% royalty on gross sales. For SaaS companies selling into franchise systems, the addressable market here is 45 franchised locations, each operating under a 10-year initial term with automatic successor terms of equal length if the franchisee remains in good standing.

This is not a massive unit-count system, but the combination of high AUV, rapid growth, and centralized technology mandates makes it a high-signal target for vendors whose products align with mandated operational categories.

Who controls software purchasing

Technology decisions at Crisp & Green are made at the franchisor level. The 2024 FDD lists five executives in Item 1: Steele Smiley (Executive Chairman of the Board & Founder), Haley Gates (Chief People Officer), Bill Fairbanks (Chief Culinary Officer), Travis Moe (Chief Restaurant Officer), and Ben Miller (Chief Marketing Officer). For software vendors, the most relevant contacts are Steele Smiley, who holds the top governance role, and Travis Moe, whose Chief Restaurant Officer title suggests direct oversight of in-store technology and operations. There is no dedicated CIO or CTO listed in the current disclosure, so the buying center likely involves these two executives in collaboration with operations leadership.

Because the franchisor mandates core systems, franchisees do not independently select POS, accounting, inventory, or franchise management platforms. Vendors should direct outreach to the HQ team rather than individual operators.

Mandated and current tech stack

Item 11 of the 2024 FDD mandates four categories of technology: accounting software, back-office and inventory system, franchise operating software, and POS software. The disclosure does not name specific vendors for any of these categories, which is a gap for competitive intelligence. However, the mandate itself tells vendors that Crisp & Green controls these four stacks centrally. If you sell into any of these categories, the franchisor is the gatekeeper, and the current incumbents—whoever they are—face replacement risk only at the HQ level.

No additional recommended (non-mandated) systems are listed, meaning any software outside these four categories—such as HR, payroll, scheduling, or marketing automation—may fall outside the formal technology program and could be sold directly to franchisees, though HQ influence is still likely given the centralized culture.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The 2024 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the brand's designated-supplier versus approved-supplier framework is not publicly available. This absence means vendors cannot confirm whether franchisees are required to buy from a single source or may choose from an approved list. In practice, the technology mandates in Item 11 suggest a controlled procurement environment, but the lack of Item 8 detail leaves some ambiguity.

On contract timing, the franchise agreement runs for a 10-year initial term. Item 17 states that if the franchisee is in good standing, the agreement automatically renews for a successive 10-year term unless either party gives notice—180 days for the franchisee, 90 days for the franchisor. This structure means technology contracts are not tied to mass renewal waves in the near term, but the brand's rapid unit growth (60.7% YoY) means new locations are opening frequently, each representing a fresh technology deployment point. Vendors should monitor new unit openings as the primary sales trigger.

How to read the Crisp & Green FDD

The full 2024 Crisp & Green Franchise Disclosure Document is available below. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (executive team), Item 11 (mandated technology), and Item 17 (renewal and term structure). The document was filed with state franchise regulators and provides the legal and operational baseline for any vendor evaluating this brand as a sales target. For a ranked list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize outreach.