From the filings
Software purchasing authority at KBM-USA rests with Director and President Shinji Tanaka, the sole executive listed in the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. The brand has not disclosed any mandated or recommended technology systems in its FDD, leaving the current tech stack unknown to outside vendors. The total unit count and operator footprint are not captured in our corpus, making the addressable market size uncertain from public filings alone.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Franchisor behaviours
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
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesFranchise agreement
Company shall have the absolute right to remotely poll Franchisee’s Computer System and point of sale and other financial records daily, or more frequently, by electronic or other remote means and Franchisee hereby grants Company authority to do so.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must prepare and submit monthly royalty statements following generally accepted accounting principles in the United States.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
At this time, we are the exclusive supplier to our franchisees (and, through you, to your subfranchisees) of “Proprietary Products”
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Company reserves the right to: (i) modify or discontinue licensing any of the WK Intellectual Property or other features of the System; (ii) add new names, marks, designs, logos or commercial symbols to the Licensed Marks and require that Franchisee use them and remove names, marks, designs, logos or commercial…
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
1000000Item 8
In the last fiscal year, our Parent received JPY1,000,000 in revenue from required purchases of goods and services by its Warabimochi Kamakura franchisee in the United States.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Company may (i) collect rebates, credits or other payments from suppliers based on purchases or sales by Franchisee, and (ii) condition its approval of a supplier on the supplier’s willingness to agree to make such payments to Company or Company’s Affiliates on account of Franchisee’s 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?
50Item 8
approximately 50% of all ongoing purchases and leases that subfranchisees make to operate the Franchised Shop.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
Company may charge a testing fee of $300 per hour for approval of an alternative product, service, or supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
If Franchisee desires to offer for sale or use at the Franchised Shop any item that does not, at that time, meet Company’s specifications for Non-Proprietary Goods/Services, or desires to purchase any Non-Proprietary Goods/Services from a supplier who is not on Company’s approved supplier list, Franchisee shall…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
shall notify Franchisee within 5 days after the Effective Date of Termination or Expiration if Company will either (i) demand an assignment of the telephone numbers and business directory listings for the Franchised Shop; or (ii) require Franchisee to disconnect the telephone number and take all steps necessary to…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is solely responsible for complying with payment card industry (“PCI”) security standards and Applicable Laws regulating hardware, software, information processing, communication systems or other technology used in operation of the Franchised Shop, including for compliance with data protection…
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall additionally participate in network-wide or United States marketing programs identified by Company, including gift or loyalty card programs, social networking programs, customer and marketing surveys, direct marketing programs and designated e-commerce programs.
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
We also have the right to inspect your operations and audit your business records.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Company reserves the right to modify the Manual from time to time to reflect changes that it may implement in the mandatory and recommended specifications, components, standards, and operating procedures of the System.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall submit a written site proposal to Company, in the form designated by the Company.
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must spend a minimum of $5,000 on approved Local Marketing during the period beginning 30 days before and ending 60 days after the Opening Date to publicize the opening of the Franchised Shop.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall spend during each Calendar Quarter an amount equal to the then-current Minimum Local Marketing Obligation, without offset, credit or deduction of any nature except as expressly provided in this Agreement.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall additionally participate in network-wide or United States marketing programs identified by Company, including gift or loyalty card programs, social networking programs, customer and marketing surveys, direct marketing programs and designated e-commerce programs.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
Currently, we require that subfranchisees purchase the mixing machine, hojicha (a type of Japanese green tea), and specialty brown sugar from a designated supplier.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Currently, we require that subfranchisees purchase the mixing machine, hojicha (a type of Japanese green tea), and specialty brown sugar from a designated supplier.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 8
We may set up a system for processing your payments for Proprietary Products through the same ACH payment system that we use to collect Royalty Fees.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesFranchise agreement
At all times after the Opening Date, the Franchised Shop must be under the direct supervision of at least one Store Manager, who may, but need not, be a Primary Owner.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
All employees and independent contractors, while working in the Franchised Shop, shall present a neat and clean appearance and wear the uniforms that Company designates for their jobs, in the color, style and design then specified by Company.
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesFranchise agreement
Company shall have the absolute right to remotely poll Franchisee’s Computer System and point of sale and other financial records daily, or more frequently, by electronic or other remote means and Franchisee hereby grants Company authority to do so.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
Company may impose a per diem fee for each travel day in accordance with this Agreement.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Company may require the attendance of Franchisee’s General Manager, Store Manager, Primary Owner, or other designated personnel at one or more Annual Meetings, provided, however, Company shall not require that more than two persons attend the Annual Meeting, which must include Franchisee’s Primary Owner, General…
Who buys here
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 franchisor's owner/CEO decides; an ops or franchise-development lead may evaluate.
KBM-USA operates in the quick-service restaurant segment, but the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document leaves several key metrics undisclosed. Total units, franchised versus company-owned counts, and year-over-year unit growth are not provided. Average unit volume and royalty percentage are also absent. For software vendors, this means the addressable market size cannot be quantified from the FDD alone. The initial franchise term is 10 years, which provides a known contractual horizon for engagement planning.
Software purchasing authority appears concentrated at the headquarters level. The 2025 FDD lists a single executive in Item 1: Shinji Tanaka, who holds the titles of Director and President. No other officers, IT leadership, or procurement personnel are named. Vendors should direct initial outreach to Tanaka, recognizing that a lean HQ structure may mean the decision-maker wears multiple hats. Without a disclosed CIO, CTO, or VP of Operations, the buying center is effectively a single point of contact based on available data.
The 2025 FDD does not disclose any mandated or recommended technology systems. There is no mention of a required point-of-sale system, back-office platform, inventory management tool, or any other operational software. This absence of a tech mandate means KBM-USA franchisees may have autonomy in selecting their own systems, or the franchisor may simply not publish those requirements in the FDD. Vendors should approach discovery calls prepared to map the existing stack from scratch, as no vendor names are on file.
Procurement signals are thin. The FDD lacks an Item 8 extract, so we cannot determine whether KBM-USA uses a designated supplier model, an approved supplier list, or an open procurement approach. The renewal terms in Item 17 offer one concrete data point: franchise agreements renew for additional 10-year periods, provided the franchisee does not give written notice of non-renewal at least 90 days before expiration and is not in violation of the agreement. Software vendors may find natural engagement windows around these renewal cycles, though the absence of unit counts makes it difficult to estimate how many locations face renewal in a given year.
The full 2025 FDD is embedded below for your review. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (the franchisor and its executives), Item 8 (restrictions on sources of products and services), and Item 11 (franchisor assistance, which sometimes lists technology requirements). Because Item 8 and Item 11 disclosures are absent or silent in our extract, the embedded PDF is your primary source for any additional detail. The document is filed with state franchise regulators and reflects the most current public disclosure from the brand.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize outreach based on decision-maker concentration, tech mandates, and unit economics.
Questions vendors ask
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
We’ll email you the moment KBM-USA files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
1 operators run 1 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
unknown of k s co ltd.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.