Palm Berries

The vendor opportunity at Palm Berries

Palm Berries is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in North Carolina with 9 total units—4 franchised and 5 company-owned—as disclosed in its 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. The brand posted 100% year-over-year unit growth, signaling an active expansion phase. Average unit volume sits at $449,902, and the standard franchise agreement carries a 5.0% royalty over a 7-year initial term. For software vendors, the immediate addressable market is small but concentrated: 9 units under a single HQ-controlled decision-making structure, with no multi-unit operators on file. The single mapped operator footprint is in Wisconsin, where 1 unit is located. There is no parent company; Palm Berries appears independently owned.

Who controls software purchasing

Software purchasing authority rests entirely with Palm Berries' HQ leadership. The 2025 FDD Item 1 lists four members: Chandler Gottlieb, Ahsan Mehmood, Erum Hussain, and Mah Noor. No separate CIO, CTO, or VP of Technology is named, meaning these four individuals collectively own vendor evaluation and selection. For a vendor, the pitch runs through a tight, centralized group—there are no multi-unit franchisees to influence or bypass HQ. The operator footprint data confirms this: only 1 mapped operator exists, with a unit-band split of 1 unit in the 1-unit band and zero operators in the 2-9, 10-24, or 25+ bands. This is a pure HQ-sale environment.

Mandated and current tech stack

Palm Berries mandates a Proprietary Software Program for its franchisees, per the 2025 FDD. No third-party POS vendor, payment processor, inventory management system, or back-office platform is named in the disclosure. The mandate is absolute: franchisees must use the proprietary system. This creates both a barrier and an opportunity for outside vendors. Any software that integrates with or replaces elements of that proprietary stack must win over the four-member HQ team. The absence of named third-party vendors in the FDD suggests the tech stack is either entirely homegrown or that the franchisor has chosen not to disclose supplier relationships in the document. Vendors should approach with a clear integration story or a compelling case for replacing a proprietary module with a specialized alternative.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The 2025 FDD does not include an Item 8 extract, so the formal procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier list, or open market—is not publicly disclosed. This lack of transparency means vendors must rely on direct discovery conversations with HQ to understand purchasing gates. On renewals, Item 17 provides a clear window: franchise agreements run 7 years, and renewal requires 180 days' prior written notice, full compliance with material terms, payment of all monetary obligations, a written agreement to update the Palm Berries Business, a general release of claims signed by the franchisee and principals, and execution of the then-current standard Franchise Agreement. With 100% unit growth in the most recent period, new units are signing initial 7-year deals now, meaning the next major renewal wave for those units begins roughly in year 6. Vendors should track the growth trajectory closely—each new unit represents a future renewal decision point where software stacks may be reevaluated.

How to read the Palm Berries FDD

The full 2025 Palm Berries Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. This is the primary source for every fact on this page, filed with state franchise regulators. Use it to verify unit counts, executive names, fee structures, and the proprietary software mandate directly. For software vendors, the FDD is a due-diligence starting point—it tells you who decides, what they require, and how the franchise agreement structures technology obligations. When you're ready to prioritize franchise systems by vendor fit, FranCloud can build a ranked target list aligned to your product category and ideal customer profile.