What is the Brand Development Fund for Crave?

According to Crave's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Brand Development Fund is established to promote the Crave system, Crave restaurants, and the products and services they offer. Franchisees are required to participate in the Fund by paying a non-refundable brand development fee. This fee is equivalent to 2% of Gross Sales for each restaurant and/or food truck business that the franchisee owns and operates.

The FDD specifies how the fund was used in the past. In the calendar year ended December 31, 2024, 95% of the contributions to the Fund were allocated to advertising and promotion, while 5% was used for website maintenance and design. Crave retains significant discretion over how the Fund is spent, including the types of advertising, marketing, and promotional activities undertaken at the national and regional levels.

Crave also has the right to reimburse itself from the Fund for costs associated with developing and distributing advertising materials, as well as for collecting the brand development fee itself. This includes both direct and indirect costs, such as salaries for employees involved in Fund-related activities and overhead expenses. The Fund can also be used to subsidize the cost of refresher training and franchisee meetings. While the Fund is intended to be perpetual, Crave reserves the right to terminate it at any time, provided that all monies in the Fund are spent for advertising or promotional purposes or returned to contributors on a pro rata basis.