From the filings

+100% units YoY

I Heart Mac and Cheese and More - RI2022I Heart Mac and Cheese and More

Quick service restaurant

I Heart Mac and Cheese and More operates 20 US locations — 18 franchised, 2 company-owned — with unit count up 100% year over year and a 5% royalty. The FDD makes no financial performance representation, and software purchasing runs through a small executive team.

For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.

Live signals

Total units
20
18 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+100%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2022
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
3%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$278K–$756K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Item 19
No 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 (FY2022)

Ongoing fees: 8% of gross sales (FY2022)Royalty 5%, Ad fund 3%. Total 8% of gross sales. Drawn against a 15% reference scale.

15% reference

Royalty 5%Ad fund 3%

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.

DoorDashDoorDash
DeliveryItem 12

isees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control. Use of food delivery platform companies, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash and other s

FacebookMeta
MarketingItem 11

profile or other presence on the Internet, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter, Li

GrubhubGrubhub
DeliveryItem 12

er franchisees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control. Use of food delivery platform companies, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash an

InstagramMeta
MarketingItem 11

the Internet, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest,

LinkedInLinkedIn
MarketingItem 11

resence on the Internet, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram,

PinterestPinterest
MarketingItem 11

et, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube,

TwitterX
MarketingItem 11

r other presence on the Internet, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, I

Uber EatsUber
DeliveryItem 12

on from other franchisees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control. Use of food delivery platform companies, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub,

YouTubeGoogle
MarketingItem 11

rwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, MySpace, Pl

Franchisor behaviours

What the franchisor requires

25 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 4 explicit no's; 5 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?

Yes

Item 11

We will have independent access to this information and are not contractually limited as to our access to this data

Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

must provide Franchisor, at Franchisor’s request, with: (i) a weekly Gross Sales Report signed by Franchisee and in the form Franchisor specifies; (ii) a quarterly income statement and profit and loss statement, in a format specified by Franchisor, including a standard chart of accounts, within fifteen (15) days…

How the franchisor buys

Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?

Yes

Item 8

As of the Issue Date of this Disclosure Document, we are an Approved Supplier for (i) signage and certain wall coverings, (ii) certain furniture, including tables and chairs, and (iii) certain food and beverage ingredients and products.

Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?

Yes

Item 11

We have the right to specify or require that certain brands, types, makes, and/or models of communications, computer systems, and hardware be used by you

How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?

155200

Item 8

As of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, we derived $155,200, or 7.27% of total revenue $2,134,624 from required purchases and leases.

Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Item 8

We and/or our affiliates may receive payments or other compensation from Approved Suppliers or any other suppliers on account of these suppliers’ dealings with us, you, or other Franchised Businesses in the System, such as rebates, commissions or other forms of compensation.

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?

35

Item 8

approximately 35% to 50% of your ongoing costs to operate the Franchised Business after the initial start-up phase.

Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?

Yes

Item 8

You must pay our then-current Evaluation Fee when submitting your request, and the costs/expenses we incur in evaluating/testing your proposal.

Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?

Yes

Item 8

We may, but are not obligated to, grant your request to: (i) offer any products or services in connection with your Franchised Business that are not Approved Products; or (ii) purchase any item or service we require you to purchase from an Approved Supplier from an alternative supplier.

Communications

Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Upon the expiration, transfer or termination of this Agreement for any reason, Franchisee must terminate Franchisee’s use of such telephone number and listing and take all steps required to assign the same to Franchisor or Franchisor’s designee.

Franchise management

Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Franchisee agrees that, in order to maintain the high quality and uniform standards associated with the System and to protect its goodwill and reputation, Franchisee shall permit Franchisor and its designated agents, during business hours, with or without notice to Franchisee, to inspect Franchisee’s Franchised…

Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Franchisor has the right to change Franchisor’s standards and specifications in Franchisor’s discretion.

Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?

Yes

Item 11

We must also have the opportunity to review and approve/reject any lease or purchase agreement for a proposed Accepted Location before you enter into such an agreement.

Marketing

Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?

Yes

Item 11

Except as approved in advance in writing by us, you must not establish or maintain a separate website, splash page, profile or other presence on the Internet, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Restaurant, including any profile on Facebook, Twitter…

Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?

Yes

Item 11

You are required to remit to us $15,000 to $18,000 for grand opening advertising (the “Grand Opening Advertising Requirement”) within 10 days from you being granted your permitting for construction of your Accepted Location.

Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?

Yes

Item 6

This is the minimum amount you must expend each week on local advertising and promotion of your Franchised Business within your Territory (the “Local Advertising Requirement”)

Operations

Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Franchisee agrees to purchase ingredients, food and beverage products, as well as certain signs, furnishings, supplies, fixtures, computer hardware and software, and other equipment, inventory, products and services, from Franchisor or from approved or designated suppliers as Franchisor will specify, from time to…

Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Franchisee agrees to purchase ingredients, food and beverage products, as well as certain signs, furnishings, supplies, fixtures, computer hardware and software, and other equipment, inventory, products and services, from Franchisor or from approved or designated suppliers as Franchisor will specify, from time to…

Payments

Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 11

You will also be required to obtain credit card processing hardware and/or software that we designate, which will cost approximately $1,000.

Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?

Yes

Item 6

Your Royalty Fee, as well as any other fees payable to us or our affiliates under the Franchise Agreement, may be collected by us via EFT from the bank account you are required to designate solely for use in connection with your Franchised Business (your “EFT Account”).

People

Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?

Yes

Item 15

Your Restaurant must, at all times, be staffed with at least one individual who has successfully completed our initial training program.

Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Franchisee’s employees must wear the uniform and attire as required by Franchisor.

Point of sale

Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?

Yes

Item 11

We require you to use the POS System that we approve for operating your I Heart Mac and Cheese restaurant.

Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?

Yes

Item 11

We will have independent access to this information and are not contractually limited as to our access to this data

Training

Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?

Yes

Franchise agreement

Franchisor may charge its then-current training fee for additional persons attending the Initial Training Program, which, at the time of the Effective Date, is Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000).

The filing answers no to 4 questions
  • 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
  • Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
  • Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?Franchise agreement

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.

Sales LeaderEmerging 20 99

The franchisor's owner/CEO decides; an ops or franchise-development lead may evaluate.

VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
  1. 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%.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 I Heart Mac and Cheese and More

I Heart Mac and Cheese and More runs 20 US locations — 18 franchised, 2 company-owned — with unit count up 100% year over year and a 5% royalty. The brand sits inside the I Heart Mac and Cheese holding company, and the FDD makes no financial performance representation.

Who controls software purchasing

CEO Stephen Giordanella leads the brand, with VP and General Counsel Kevin D. Ayers, VP of Franchise Development Joseph Amodio, Director of Finance Delia Valles and Director of Operations Carlos “Max” Gonzalez rounding out the team. This executive group is the practical buying center for a system-wide platform decision.

Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required

DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats by Uber are named in Item 12, and Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter by X are named in Item 11, but the FDD requires none of them — they appear in the filing as delivery and marketing channels, not contractual obligations.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

Item 8 runs an approved-supplier model: franchisees must buy employee uniforms and certain inventory, supplies and merchandise bearing the Proprietary Marks from the franchisor's approved list, with alternative suppliers available on prior written approval. Item 17 sets the agreement's renewal, transfer and termination terms; see that section of the filing embedded below for the specifics.

How to read the I Heart Mac and Cheese and More FDD

The filing embedded below was filed with state franchise regulators in 2022. It makes no financial performance representation. Talk to FranCloud for a ranked target list of franchise systems like this one.

Questions vendors ask

I Heart Mac and Cheese and More - RI2022I Heart Mac and Cheese and More, answered from the filing

CEO Stephen Giordanella leads the brand, with VP and General Counsel Kevin D. Ayers and VP of Franchise Development Joseph Amodio the likely points of contact for a system-wide platform decision.
DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats by Uber are named in Item 12, and Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter by X are named in Item 11, but the FDD requires none of them.
20 locations — 18 franchised and 2 company-owned — with unit count up 100% year over year, doubling the system's footprint.
Item 8 runs an approved-supplier model: franchisees must buy employee uniforms and certain inventory, supplies and merchandise bearing the Proprietary Marks from the franchisor's approved list, with alternative suppliers subject to prior written approval.
With unit count doubling year over year, new-location openings are the more likely entry point for a vendor than a renewal cycle timed off this filing.
The filing is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators in 2022, and the FDD makes no financial performance representation.
Source

Read the filing itself

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I Heart Mac and Cheese and More - RI2022I Heart Mac and Cheese and More2022 FDDView only

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The brands you can actually sell into, from the filings.

Operator footprint

Who runs the locations

81 operators run 81 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.

Operators by units owned

Single-unit81

Top states by locations

TX15
FL11
IN11
CA6
NC6

Ownership

The portfolio behind I Heart Mac and Cheese and More - RI2022I Heart Mac and Cheese and More

single_brand_holdco of I Heart Mac and Cheese.

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Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.