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tent image and message and to protect the Pepper Lunch Marks and Pepper Lunch System, you must not participate or market through the use of social technology, social media such as Facebook, Instagram,
From the filings
Hot Palette America
Quick service restaurantHot Palette America operates 5 franchised US locations with a $1,617,086 average unit volume and a 5% royalty. Software purchasing sits with a small executive team rather than any named technology mandate.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
5
5 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-16.667%
vs prior filing
AUV
$1.62M
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
3%
national + local
Initial fee
$50K
per unit
Investment range
$662K–$1.69M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
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 (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.
InstagramMeta
and message and to protect the Pepper Lunch Marks and Pepper Lunch System, you must not participate or market through the use of social technology, social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest
PinterestPinterest
e and to protect the Pepper Lunch Marks and Pepper Lunch System, you must not participate or market through the use of social technology, social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitte
TwitterX
ct the Pepper Lunch Marks and Pepper Lunch System, you must not participate or market through the use of social technology, social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter, social netw
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
26 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 7 explicit no's; 1 question the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within forty-five (45) days following the end of each calendar quarter during the Term, Franchisee shall submit to Franchisor financial statements for the preceding quarter, including a balance sheet and profit and loss statement, prepared in the form and manner prescribed by Franchisor and in accordance with…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
In addition to other third party suppliers that you buy from directly, we and our affiliates may be Approved Suppliers or the sole Approved Supplier for certain items from time to time.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We may update our list of Approved Suppliers from time to time.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
During our last fiscal year, we did not derive any revenue from purchases or leases by franchisees; however, we will derive such revenue in 2025.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We may receive payments from suppliers and distributors based upon franchisee purchases.
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?
80Item 8
Approximately 90% of your start-up expenses and 80% of your ongoing expenses, other than fees disclosed in Items 5 and 6, will be for purchases from Approved Suppliers or purchases according to our specifications.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
You must pay us a fee not to exceed the actual cost of the inspection and the testing.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you wish to procure any items from a supplier other than us or an Approved Supplier, you must obtain our approval in the manner described in Section 8.2 of the Franchise Agreement.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall at all times be compliant with (i) the NACHA ACH Security Framework; (ii) the Payment Rules; (iii) Applicable Law regarding data privacy, data security and security breaches; and (iv) Franchisor’s security policies and guidelines, all as may be adopted and/or amended from time to time (collectively…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
In addition, Franchisor may, in its sole discretion, contract with a third party to conduct sanitation and food safety audits of the Franchised Restaurant periodically throughout the Term, but no less than once per calendar year.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
We may, from time to time, update or change the Manuals in our sole discretion.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You may not open your Pepper Lunch Restaurant at the Franchised Location for business until you have received our written authorization, which may be subject to our satisfactory inspection of the Pepper Lunch Restaurant at the Franchised Location.
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must, during the period beginning 30 days before the scheduled opening of Franchisee’s Franchised Restaurant and continuing for 15 days after the Franchised Restaurant opens for business, spend from $7,500 to $15,000 to conduct grand opening marketing and promotion for Franchisee’s Franchised Restaurant.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall fully participate in all guest loyalty or frequent customer programs now or in the future adopted or approved by Franchisor.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
All “Pepper Lunch Branded Products”, “Pepper Lunch Proprietary Products” and “Non-Proprietary Products” designated by us for use and sale at or from the Franchised Restaurant must be purchased from Approved Suppliers.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
All “Pepper Lunch Branded Products”, “Pepper Lunch Proprietary Products” and “Non-Proprietary Products” designated by us for use and sale at or from the Franchised Restaurant must be purchased from Approved Suppliers.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
“Payment Processors” means all credit card, debit card and/or ACH processors whose services Franchisor may require Franchisee to utilize, as well as payment gateway service providers.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall pay the Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fees, Technology Fees and Brand Building Fund Contribution to Franchisor from Franchisee’s bank account by electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) or other automatic payment mechanism that Franchisor may designate.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 8
You must participate in all gift certificate and/or gift card administration programs as we may designate from time to time.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
ITEM 15 OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ACTUAL OPERATION OF THE FRANCHISE BUSINESS You must designate a Principal Owner acceptable to us who will be involved in the day-to-day operations of the Pepper Lunch Restaurant.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall cause all employees, while working in the Franchised Restaurant, to wear uniforms of the color, design and other specifications that Franchisor may designate from time to time and to present a neat and clean appearance.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must purchase, use and maintain a computerized point of sale cash collection system (including a POS System network router, computer, cameras and DVR, back-office computer and printer and other related hardware and software) for the Pepper Lunch Restaurant as specified in the Manuals or by us in writing (the “POS…
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
There are no limitations on our access to your systems.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall fully participate in all guest loyalty or frequent customer programs now or in the future adopted or approved by Franchisor.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
In our discretion, we may require you, your Principal Owner, Restaurant Manager and/or other supervisorial or managerial personnel to attend additional and remedial training programs (“Post- Opening Additional Training Programs”) from time to time.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
Your Principal Owner and each Restaurant Manager must attend the Annual Franchisee Conference.
The filing answers no to 7 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?Franchise agreement
- Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?Franchise agreement
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Franchise agreement
- 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?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.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
- 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%.
- 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.
- 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.
The vendor opportunity at Hot Palette America
Hot Palette America runs 5 franchised US locations with a $1,617,086 average unit volume and a 5% royalty, though unit count fell 16.7% year over year. It's a small system, but one with meaningfully higher per-unit revenue than most quick-service peers in this dataset.
Who controls software purchasing
The executive team is compact: CEO Troy Hooper, COO Mark Bailey, President Yuto Tago, Treasurer Sky Chee and Secretary Chong Wei Yen. With only five units in the system, purchasing decisions run through this small executive group rather than a dispersed franchisee base.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter by X are all named in Item 11, but the FDD requires none of them — they show up as marketing and social channels, not contractual obligations placed on franchisees.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 runs an approved-supplier model: franchisees must lease induction cookers and buy uniforms and certain smallwares from suppliers the franchisor has accepted, with a process to propose and test alternatives. Renewal grants one additional 10-year term to franchisees who haven't logged three or more material defaults in any 18-month period, who complete required updates and training, and who sign the then-current franchise agreement — potentially at new royalty and advertising rates.
How to read the Hot Palette America FDD
The filing embedded below was filed with state franchise regulators in 2025 and includes the Item 19 financial performance representation. Talk to FranCloud for a ranked target list of franchise systems like this one.
Questions vendors ask
Hot Palette America, answered from the filing
CEO Troy Hooper and COO Mark Bailey lead the executive team, alongside President Yuto Tago, Treasurer Sky Chee and Secretary Chong Wei Yen — the group any vendor would need to reach for a system-wide decision.
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter by X are named in Item 11, but the FDD requires none of them — they appear in the filing as marketing channels, not contractual obligations.
5 locations, all franchised, with unit count down 16.7% year over year — a small quick-service system carrying a comparatively high $1,617,086 average unit volume.
Item 8 runs an approved-supplier model: franchisees must lease induction cookers and buy uniforms and certain smallwares from approved sources, with a process to propose and test alternative suppliers.
The initial term is 10 years, with one 10-year renewal available to franchisees who haven't defaulted three or more times in an 18-month span and who sign the then-current agreement — a real reset point for vendor terms.
The filing is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators in 2025 and includes the Item 19 financial performance representation.
Source
Read the filing itself
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
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 Hot Palette America files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
12 operators run 12 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit12
Top states by locations
| CA | 4 |
|---|---|
| OR | 1 |
| TX | 1 |
| FL | 1 |
| NV | 1 |
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.