May Hardees officers own interests in approved Hardees suppliers?
Hardees Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
One or more of our officers may own nominal interests in certain of our approved suppliers which are publicly traded companies or through investment funds.
We and our affiliates may receive fees, payments, commissions, field-of-use license royalties or other consideration from approved suppliers based on sales to franchisees, from promotional allowances and volume discounts. We and our affiliates may use all amounts received from approved suppliers, distributors or third parties, whether or not based on your and/or other franchisees' actual or prospective dealings with them, without restriction for any purposes we or our affiliates deem appropriate. Finally, we and our affiliates provide supply chain, quality assurance, distribution and logistics services for the franchise system. These services include negotiating with suppliers and distributors who will sell and
distribute goods to our franchisees, designating one or more distributors to service our franchisees, and managing distribution logistics. As a result, we and our affiliates reserve the right to recover our costs related to performing these services by collecting a per-case distribution fee for all cases sold by an approved supplier to our franchisees and from other logistics-related programs.
Source: Item 8 — Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services (FDD pages 39–42)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Hardees's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, one or more of Hardees's officers may own nominal interests in approved suppliers. However, this is limited to suppliers that are publicly traded companies or where the interests are held through investment funds. This means that while Hardees's officers can have some financial ties to suppliers, there are restrictions in place.
Hardees and its affiliates may also receive fees, payments, commissions, royalties, or other consideration from approved suppliers based on sales to franchisees, promotional allowances, and volume discounts. Hardees has the right to use these amounts received from suppliers without any restrictions for purposes they deem appropriate. This could create an incentive for Hardees to favor certain suppliers over others, potentially impacting the costs and options available to franchisees.
Hardees and its affiliates also provide supply chain, quality assurance, distribution, and logistics services for the franchise system. These services include negotiating with suppliers and distributors, designating distributors, and managing distribution logistics. Hardees reserves the right to recover the costs related to performing these services by collecting a per-case distribution fee for all cases sold by an approved supplier to Hardees franchisees and from other logistics-related programs. This means that franchisees may incur additional costs through these distribution fees.