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 8.2% across 146 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 8.2% across 146 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 · 24mo ago
CourtListener/RECAP · 36mo ago
9 questions to ask a ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS’ own Item 20 shows 2,509 of 4,069 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2024 — about 61.7%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2024
- 02
334 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2024. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?
Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.
FDD Item 20 · FY2024
- 03
The system went from 4,170 units to 1,997 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2022–FY2024
- 04
You pay 8.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 05
ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS’ FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2024
- 06
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 07
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 08
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 09
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
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 8.2% across 146 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.