Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory — SBA financing may be unavailable; verify with your lender
ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
Advanced Fresh Concepts (AFC) operates sushi counters and kiosks inside grocery stores and supermarkets, preparing fresh sushi and Asian-style packaged meals on-site for retail sale. The sushi is made daily in the host store. A franchisee runs one or more of these in-store sushi counters, handling preparation and sales.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Not enough disclosure
Distress
No verified FDD extraction to judge from. Any figures shown are labelled sample data or independent federal records.
Exit rate · latest year
61.7%
vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$41K–$139K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
No loan record
no SBA 7(a)/504 loans found for this brand
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2022–2024
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2024, 2,509 of 4,069 franchised outlets left the system — a 61.7% annualized exit rate, vs 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 4,117 | 4,170 | 4,274 |
| Opened | 437 | 427 | 350 |
| Transfers | 315 | 354 | 334 |
| Terminations | 218 | 211 | 179 |
| Non-renewals | 19 | 15 | 27 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 30 | 53 | 53 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 122 | 98 | 2,303 |
| Outlets at end | 4,170 | 4,274 | 1,997 |
| Net change | +53 | +104 | -2277 |
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $6K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $41K–$139K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$41K–$139K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$6K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
8%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$80K
8% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$800K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $0 in back wages for 0 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$0
Employees affected
0
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2011.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
CourtListener/RECAP · 22mo ago
CourtListener/RECAP · 35mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS franchises closed last year?
In ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 2,509 of 4,069 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 61.7% — compared with 8.6% across 137 food & dining systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS franchise cost?
Per ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $6K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $41K–$139K (Item 7).
What royalty does ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS charge?
ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS charges an ongoing royalty of 8.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS's 2024 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.