Under what conditions is a Crave franchisee required to surrender materials containing confidential information to the franchisor?

According to Crave's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee (or more specifically, the 'Covenantor' as defined in the agreement) is required to surrender any material containing confidential information to Crave under two specific circumstances. These circumstances are upon request by Crave, or upon the termination of the Franchise Agreement. This obligation is part of the Confidentiality and Non-Compete Agreement that the Covenantor (likely the franchisee or a related party) agrees to.

This requirement ensures that Crave maintains control over its proprietary and confidential information, which is crucial for preserving its competitive advantage and the uniformity of the franchise system. The confidential information includes, but is not limited to, the contents of the Crave operations manual and other materials related to the System and methods of operation.

For a prospective Crave franchisee, this means that at the end of the franchise term or if Crave requests it, they must return all documents, electronic files, or other materials that contain confidential information about the Crave system. This includes operational manuals, marketing strategies, recipes, and any other proprietary information. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in legal action by Crave to protect its intellectual property and business interests.

This is a fairly standard clause in franchise agreements, as franchisors need to protect their trade secrets and operational methods. Franchisees should be aware of this obligation and ensure they have a system in place to properly manage and return confidential materials when necessary.