Hawaiian Bros Island Grill

The vendor opportunity at Hawaiian Bros

Hawaiian Bros Island Grill presents a compact but high-value target for software vendors. The system operates 42 total units—24 company-owned and 18 franchised—generating an average unit volume of $3,094,855. This AUV signals healthy per-location revenue that can support meaningful technology investment. The franchise is part of Hawaiian Bros Inc., with its headquarters in Missouri. The operator footprint is concentrated, with 13 mapped operators controlling approximately 85 located units. Nine of these operators are multi-unit, though none exceed 24 units. The geographic density is heavily skewed toward Texas, which hosts 64 of the mapped units, followed by Arizona with 18. Nebraska, Arkansas, and Iowa each have a single unit. For a vendor, the addressable market is small by unit count but offers a clear, centralized decision-making path.

Who controls software purchasing

Technology purchasing authority sits at the corporate level. The 2024 FDD lists Scott Ford as President and CEO, supported by Carey Malloy, who serves as both Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Development Officer. The founder group—Cameron McNie (Executive Chairman) and John Tyler McNie (Vice Chairman)—remains in key leadership roles. Cynthia Dillard Parres serves as General Counsel. No Chief Information Officer or Chief Technology Officer is named in the filing, which suggests that technology decisions likely route through the CEO and CFO offices. For a vendor, the initial sales motion should target this concentrated HQ group rather than individual franchisees, given the mandated technology requirements.

Mandated and current tech stack

The FDD is explicit about two technology obligations. First, the point-of-sale system is mandated as Toast by Toast, Inc. This is a hard requirement for franchisees and represents a locked-in vendor relationship at the store level. Second, all franchisees must enter into an IT Services and Support Agreement. The specific provider for this agreement is not named in the FDD, which may indicate a corporate-managed service or a vendor that is not disclosed in the franchise offering circular. No other operational, payroll, inventory, or loyalty platforms are mentioned in the mandated or recommended technology disclosures. This creates a landscape where Toast owns the core transactional layer, but adjacent categories—such as back-of-house, HR, or marketing tech—appear open.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The procurement framework is not detailed in Item 8 of the 2024 FDD. The document does not extract a designated supplier list or an approved vendor program outside of the specific technology mandates. This absence of a rigid procurement structure could mean a more direct sales cycle for non-POS categories. The franchise agreement carries a 15-year initial term, with a single 15-year renewal option. The renewal conditions are a critical trigger for vendors. To renew, a franchisee must sign the then-current franchise agreement, which may contain materially different terms, including updated technology requirements. They must also comply with all remodeling and redecoration standards and pay a renewal fee equal to 50% of the then-current initial franchise fee. This contractual reset point is when new software mandates are most likely to be introduced and enforced across the franchise base.

How to read the Hawaiian Bros FDD

The 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document is the authoritative source for understanding the system's technology requirements, financial performance, and contractual obligations. For a software vendor, the most relevant sections are Item 11, which details the franchisor's assistance, including the mandated Toast POS and IT Services Agreement, and Item 19, which provides the financial performance representations behind the $3.09 million AUV. Item 17 outlines the renewal conditions that can force technology stack changes. The full document is embedded below for your review. For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.