nd applications to operate the POS System. The POS System performs a variety of functions, including payment processing, employee scheduling, and sales report generation. ParTech® Brink POS® and the G
From the filings
Duck Donuts
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Duck Donuts is controlled at the corporate level, with CEO/CFO Devon Mailey and COO Gary Hitterdal as key decision-makers. The franchise already mandates Grubbrr self-order kiosks and ParTech Brink POS across its 144-unit system. For vendors selling complementary or replacement software, the addressable market is 143 franchised locations, with a 10-year initial term and renewal cycle that creates predictable evaluation windows.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
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.
9%of gross sales (FY2025)
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.
itures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs or any other social media site other than Facebook at any time
operate the POS System. The POS System performs a variety of functions, including payment processing, employee scheduling, and sales report generation. ParTech® Brink POS® and the Grubbrr self-order k
rnish us with a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn,
g in your area or territory. You are responsible P a g e |22 Duck Donuts FDD 2025 A for local advertising placement. You may not maintain a business profile on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, T
u must furnish us with a quarterly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram,
erly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar quarter. You may not use social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs or an
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
23 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 8 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?
YesItem 11
The POS System allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the internet.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within thirty (30) days after the close of each calendar quarter and within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, Franchisee will furnish Franchisor a full and complete written statement of income and expense and a profit and loss statement for the operation of the Franchised Business during said…
How the franchisor buys
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
583687Item 8
During our fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, we derived $583,687 from franchisee- required purchases, which comprised about 8.0% of our total revenue of $6,869,943.32.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
From time to time, we may receive revenue, rebates, discounts or other material consideration from suppliers based on your required purchases of products, supplies or equipment.
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
approximately 50% - 75% of your costs for ongoing operation.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
If you request that we approve a proposed item or supplier, we may charge you an evaluation fee equal to our actual cost and expense of inspection and testing.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you would like us to consider another item or supplier, you must make such request in writing to us and have the supplier give us samples of its product or service and such other information that we may require.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
conduct inspections of your Franchised Business, at the frequency and duration that we deem advisable.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may from time to time revise the contents of the Manual and other materials created or approved for use in the operation of the Franchised Business.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
No site may be used for the location of the Franchised Business unless it is accepted in writing by Franchisor.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee may not maintain any business profile on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tik Tok, blogs or any other social media and/or networking site other than Facebook without Franchisor’s prior written approval at any time, and use of any social media accounts shall be in strict accordance with Franchisor’s…
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall spend at least Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($12,500.00) on the approved local advertising and promotional plan with the agency of record in the Territory fourteen (14) days prior to and within the first sixty (60) days after the opening of the Franchised Business.
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
Commencing your second year, you must spend a minimum of one percent (1%) of your Gross Sales each month on local advertising for the Franchised Business in your territory, which can be audited.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 11
In addition, you are required to maintain an account with current Gift Card and Loyalty programs.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, ingredients, supplies and services from our designated suppliers and contractors or in accordance with our specifications.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, ingredients, supplies and services from our designated suppliers and contractors or in accordance with our specifications.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
must purchase and use the point-of-sale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and applications to operate the POS System.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must execute documents, including but not limited to, the Authorization attached as Attachment 4, that allow Franchisor to automatically take the Royalty Fee and Brand Fund Contribution due as well as other sums due Franchisor, from business bank accounts via electronic funds transfers or Automated…
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 11
In addition, you are required to maintain an account with current Gift Card and Loyalty programs.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
must purchase and use the point-of-sale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and applications to operate the POS System.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
The POS System allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the internet.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor reserves the right to impose a reasonable fee for all additional training programs.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
If we require it, you must attend mandatory training programs for up to 7 days and an annual conference or national business meeting for up to 3 days each year, at a location we designate.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?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.
HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
- 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 Duck Donuts
Duck Donuts operates 144 quick-service restaurants, 143 of which are franchised. The single company-owned unit means nearly all technology purchasing decisions affect a franchisee base, but the franchisor holds tight control over mandated systems. Average unit volume sits at $537,112, and the system grew 7.5% year-over-year. For a software vendor, that means a base of 143 addressable locations today, with new units opening steadily. The 6% royalty rate and 10-year initial term create a stable, long-horizon operator base that can absorb multi-year software contracts.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2025 FDD lists three HQ executives: Devon Mailey, who holds both the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer titles; Gary Hitterdal, Chief Operating Officer; and Lindsay Dunn, Senior Director of Marketing. No dedicated CIO, CTO, or VP of Technology appears in the filing. This suggests technology decisions run through the CEO/CFO and COO, with marketing-tech likely influenced by the Senior Director of Marketing. Vendors should prepare to engage Mailey or Hitterdal for operational and POS-adjacent tools, and Dunn for customer-facing or marketing platforms.
Mandated and current tech stack
Duck Donuts mandates two systems across its franchise network: Grubbrr self-order kiosks and ParTech Brink POS. Both are named in the 2025 FDD as required technology. No other operational, back-of-house, inventory, labor, or loyalty platforms are disclosed as mandated or recommended. This creates a clear integration surface for vendors whose products complement Brink POS or Grubbrr kiosks. If your software sits upstream or downstream of the POS—think accounting, scheduling, delivery aggregation, or loyalty—you will need to work within a ParTech-centric architecture. The absence of a named online ordering or delivery mandate also leaves room for vendors in those categories, though any adoption would likely require HQ approval.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The 2025 FDD does not include an Item 8 extract, so the formal procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or open—is not publicly known. In practice, the existence of mandated technology vendors signals a top-down procurement culture. Renewal terms offer a second entry point: franchisees with a clean compliance record can renew for an additional 10 years by giving six months' written notice, paying a $7,500 renewal fee, and upgrading equipment to then-current specifications. That equipment-upgrade clause is a natural trigger for software evaluation. With 143 franchised units and a 7.5% growth rate, vendors can also target new-store openings as a recurring sales motion.
How to read the Duck Donuts FDD
The full 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It contains the legal and operational detail behind every claim on this page, including Item 11 technology mandates, Item 1 executive listings, and Item 17 renewal conditions. For software vendors, the FDD is the single best source of truth on who buys, what they already use, and when they are likely to buy again. If you need a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Duck Donuts, answered from the filing
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Duck Donuts files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
116 operators run 116 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Top states by locations
| WI | 1 |
|---|
Ownership
The portfolio behind Duck Donuts
unknown of nsf duck.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.