From the filings
The most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) for Southern Steer Business, filed in 2026, does not disclose the specific executives who control software purchasing at the brand. The document also does not mandate or recommend any specific technology systems, leaving the current tech stack undefined for vendors. The total number of addressable units—both franchised and company-owned—is not publicly available in the FDD, making market sizing a challenge without further primary research.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Franchisor behaviours
20 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 4 explicit no's; 10 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?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee acknowledges and agrees that the Franchisor will at all times have unrestricted access to all Southern Steer Business records (“Southern Steer Business Records”) with respect to customers, and other service professionals of, and/or related to, the Southern Steer Business including, without limitation…
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee will send the Franchisor annual income and expense statements within 60 days of the end of Franchisee fiscal year.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisor or an Affiliate may be a Designated Supplier.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Accordingly, Franchisee expressly understands and agrees that Franchisor may from time to time, in its sole discretion, (a) change the components of the System;
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee acknowledges that the Franchisor and/or its Affiliates will have the right to receive commissions, volume discounts, purchase discounts, performance payments, bonuses, rebates, marketing and advertising allowances, co-op advertising, administrative fees, enhancements, price discounts, economic benefits…
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
(g) Testing Fee. If Franchisee requests to purchase new products, supplies, and services or to purchase products, supplies and services from new suppliers or vendors, Franchisee will pay Franchisor the actual cost incurred by Franchisor to test and inspect new products, supplies, services, suppliers and vendors…
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
If the Franchisee desires to purchase any required foods, food items, products, supplies, equipment, materials, services or Food, Beverages and Products from other suppliers which are not Approved Suppliers, then the Franchisee must, at its expense, submit samples, specifications, and product information requested by…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee acknowledges and agrees that the Franchisor has the absolute right and interest in and to all telephone numbers, social media accounts and directory listings associated with the Marks and Southern Steer Business
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
To the extent the Franchisee stores, processes, transmits or otherwise accesses or possesses Sensitive Information, the Franchisee agrees it will adhere to, and cause any service provider or third party-provided payment applications to adhere to cardholder data security standards according to the then- current…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee will permit and cooperate with the Franchisor or its representatives to enter, remain on, and inspect the Southern Steer Business without prior notice.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 7
The franchise agreement may allow the franchisor to change its manuals and business model without Your consent.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisor will review the Site Information and the Franchisee will not purchase or lease a proposed site until the Franchisee has provided the Site Information to the Franchisor, the Franchisor has reviewed the Site Information, and the Franchisor has provided the Franchisee with a no-objection letter for the…
Marketing
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee will fully participate in all customer loyalty or frequent customer programs approved by the Franchisor, even if the Franchisee is not required by the Franchisor to actively promote such programs within the Franchisee’s Protected Area.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will purchase all products, services, supplies, equipment, materials and Foods, Beverages or Products required for the operation of Franchisee’s Southern Steer Business from manufacturers, suppliers or distributors designated or previously approved by Franchisor.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will purchase all products, services, supplies, equipment, materials and Foods, Beverages or Products required for the operation of Franchisee’s Southern Steer Business from manufacturers, suppliers or distributors designated or previously approved by Franchisor.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 7
Payments are Revenues from $1.00 to made via electronic fund transfer $1,000,000;
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will participate in all gift certificate and/or gift card administration programs as may be designated by the Franchisor from time to time.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
sole expense, lease, license or purchase the computer hardware, computer software, peripheral devices and point-of-sale, cash register, credit card processing, online ordering, loyalty scanner, or other systems related to credit card processing, and operating systems (“Computers and Software”) that meet the…
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesFranchise agreement
The Franchisee’s Computers and Software will be configured to provide the Franchisor with direct electronic access to the Franchisee’s Computers and Software, and databases to upload the data, financial information and other information the Franchisee is required to provide to the Franchisor pursuant to this…
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 7
Within 10 days Payable if We conduct additional Fees(6) $400 per day, per person after invoice. training at Your Site, if We provide plus travel and living additional training at Our expenses. headquarters, You need additional opening assistance, You request that consulting assistance be provided at Your Southern…
Southern Steer Business operates in the retail food segment, but the 2026 FDD provides very limited quantitative data for software vendors to size the opportunity. The total number of units—both franchised and company-owned—is not disclosed. Similarly, key financial metrics like Average Unit Volume (AUV) are absent from the filing. For a vendor, this means the addressable market is undefined without conducting external research. The brand appears to be independently owned, with no parent company on file, which can sometimes simplify the sales process by avoiding multi-brand procurement layers.
The 2026 FDD does not list any executives at the brand's headquarters. Without this information, it is impossible to identify a CIO, VP of Technology, or any other specific buyer from the document. The decision-making level—whether it sits at the franchisor HQ, rests with multi-unit operators, or is a mixed model—remains unknown. Vendors will need to map the organization through direct prospecting to find the right point of contact.
A critical piece of intelligence for any software vendor is missing: the mandated or recommended technology stack. The 2026 FDD does not name any POS systems, operational platforms, or other software vendors. This absence of a tech mandate suggests either a very open environment where franchisees choose their own tools, or simply that the franchisor does not disclose this information in the FDD. Either way, a vendor cannot rely on the FDD to understand the incumbent technology or identify displacement opportunities.
Timing a sales pitch is impossible based on the FDD alone. The initial franchise term length is not disclosed, and the Item 17 renewal conditions provided no extractable data. Without knowing the typical contract cycle, vendors cannot anticipate when a franchisee or the franchisor might be open to switching systems. The procurement model is equally opaque; the FDD does not specify whether Southern Steer Business uses designated suppliers, an approved supplier list, or an open purchasing model.
The 2026 FDD is the primary legal document governing the franchise relationship, and it is filed with state franchise regulators. For software vendors, the most relevant items are typically Item 11 (franchisor's obligations) for tech mandates and Item 8 (restrictions on sources of products and services) for procurement rules. In this case, both items lack the specific data points vendors need. Reviewing the full document below is essential to confirm these findings and look for any indirect signals not captured in our structured extracts. For a ranked target list of franchise brands with complete tech-stack and decision-maker data, FranCloud can help.
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.
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FDD alert
We’ll email you the moment Southern Steer Business files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
No franchisee network yet. Southern Steer Business’s latest FDD reports no franchised locations.
Related Retail food brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.