A Clean Eatz Café combines a quick-service restaurant with a weekly meal-plan production cycle, Grab-N-Go inventory, Marketplace retail and catering. The franchisee or an approved full-time Manager runs the Café and employees; Clean Eatz Franchising LLC controls the System, menu authorization, suppliers, digital channels, territory boundaries, reporting and operating standards.
Meal Plans, Grab-N-Go, Café, Retail and Catering.
114 franchised and 2 company-owned at year-end.
Not exclusive; digital and nontraditional channels are reserved.
Owner or approved Manager must operate on premises.
Snack inventory, specified proteins and restaurant equipment.
What does a Clean Eatz Café sell, and who buys it?
The Café serves the general public, especially customers seeking portioned, health-focused food, through five distinct but connected sales paths. The unit converts daily restaurant demand and scheduled weekly meal-plan demand into food production, pickup, dine-in, carry-out, retail and catering transactions.
The 2026 FDD defines the franchised business as a quick-service restaurant offering health-based meal plans, entrées, side items, snacks and drinks through the Café, catering and meal plans. The official franchise operating overview organizes the customer-facing offer into Meal Plans, Grab-N-Go Meals, In-store Café, Retail and Catering. These are sales paths within one Clean Eatz Café, not separate franchise formats under this FDD.
Weekly Meal Plans
Customers select a rotating menu during an order window, then collect prepared meals from their local Café. The official Meal Plan FAQ currently describes Tuesday-Sunday ordering and Sunday-Tuesday pickup.
Café service
Dine-in and carry-out orders use the regular Café menu. The franchisee supplies the approved premises, equipment, employees and POS process; Clean Eatz controls the authorized menu and System standards.
Grab-N-Go
Prepared packaged meals provide immediate selection from on-hand inventory. This path depends on forecasting, food-safety controls and inventory rotation performed at the Café under the Manual.
Retail / Marketplace
The Café carries authorized snacks and related retail items. Required prepackaged snack inventory is sourced exclusively through CE Kitchen, Inc., an affiliated supplier identified in Item 8.
Catering
Group orders extend production beyond individual transactions. The official ordering hub routes customers among Café orders, Meal Plan orders and Catering orders by local Café.
How does work move through the Café after opening?
Work moves from brand and local demand generation into location-routed ordering, approved purchasing, scheduled food preparation, customer fulfillment, POS recording and franchisor review. The weekly Meal Plan cycle runs alongside ordinary Café, Grab-N-Go, Marketplace and Catering activity.
Brand demand becomes local demand
Actor: The franchisor and franchisee.
Action: The franchisor funds national media, digital and e-commerce programs; the franchisee executes approved local marketing inside the Protected Territory.
System / output: National Brand Fund, approved creative and local vendors generate Café-specific inquiries and orders.
Customers select a channel and Café
Actor: Customer and unit employees.
Action: Orders arrive through dine-in, carry-out, Meal Plan, Catering or other approved paths; the official website routes online demand by location.
System / output: Approved ordering interface and POS create a transaction, production requirement or pickup commitment.
Approved inputs become scheduled production
Actor: Franchisee, Manager and Café employees.
Action: The unit orders authorized ingredients and packaging, then prepares Café menu items, weekly Meal Plans, Grab-N-Go stock and Catering orders under the Manual.
System / output: Approved suppliers, exclusive inputs, restaurant equipment and food-safety procedures produce service-ready inventory.
The Café completes the customer promise
Actor: Unit employees supervised by the owner or Manager.
Action: Employees serve dine-in and carry-out guests, hand off Meal Plan pickups, replenish Grab-N-Go and Marketplace displays, and fulfill Catering orders.
System / output: Approved premises, packaging, cold storage and service standards produce a completed order.
Every transaction becomes operating data
Actor: Franchisee and POS system.
Action: The POS records sales and generates reports; the franchisee maintains daily records, monthly revenue and expense statements, quarterly profit-and-loss statements and annual CPA-prepared financial statements.
System / output: POS, accounting software and Internet access feed reporting, weekly ACH collections and audit support.
Inspection closes one cycle and starts the next
Actor: Manager, franchisee and franchisor field personnel.
Action: The unit maintains cleanliness, service and product standards; Clean Eatz may inspect, review records and require correction of defects.
System / output: Manual standards, the next rotating Meal Plan menu and customer-facing tools such as the official loyalty program support repeat demand.
Workflow evidenceClean Eatz 2026 FDD, Items 1, 6, 8, 11 and 16, pp. 7-9, 13-15, 19-30 and 37; Franchise Agreement Sections 11.01-11.03 and 12.02-12.15. Public channel mechanics: official consumer ordering and Meal Plan pages.
Who performs each operating function?
The franchisee remains the employer and day-to-day operator, even when an approved Manager supervises the Café. Clean Eatz Franchising LLC supplies the System and oversight, while affiliated and approved suppliers control key food, packaging, equipment and technology inputs.
Either the franchisee or a fully trained, qualified Manager must supervise and participate in day-to-day operation on premises. A Manager must be approved, devote full time and best efforts, be certified annually, and either hold at least 10% beneficial equity or operate under another arrangement approved by the franchisor. The agreement therefore requires continuous, full-time on-premises supervision.
Franchisee / Manager
Selects and operates the site subject to approval; hires, schedules, pays and trains employees; purchases inventory; runs production and service; executes local marketing; maintains records, insurance, cybersecurity and legal compliance.
Clean Eatz Franchising LLC
Defines the System and Manual; approves the site, design, suppliers, products and advertising; operates the brand website; specifies POS and reporting standards; accesses operating data; conducts inspections and audits; provides advisory and field support.
Required third parties
CE Kitchen, Inc. supplies required prepackaged snacks and Marketplace items; Lifestyle Provisionz LLC supplies specified proteins; an unnamed exclusive equipment supplier controls restaurant equipment; approved vendors provide other food, packaging, software and services.
The FDD does not prescribe employee headcount, named job titles, shift structure or labor ratios. The official target-markets page and official partner profile publish differing promotional staffing descriptions, so those numbers are not treated as contractual. The operating obligation is clearer than the staffing count: the franchisee manages employees and must train them to Clean Eatz standards.
Which suppliers and technology are mandatory?
Mandatory dependencies are concentrated in authorized food and retail products, restaurant equipment, POS reporting, accounting software, Internet access and the Manual. Clean Eatz can revise specifications, revoke approved suppliers, require upgrades and access Café operating data.
Item 8 requires exclusive purchases of prepackaged snack inventory from CE Kitchen, Inc., specified proteins from Lifestyle Provisionz LLC, and restaurant equipment from the exclusive equipment supplier named in the Operations Manual. Other logo items, utensils, ingredients and food must come from designated or approved suppliers or meet written specifications. Proposed alternative suppliers require advance submission; the three exclusive categories are not open to substitution.
The required technology stack includes the POS system specified in the Manual, third-party accounting software such as QuickBooks, approved communications equipment, Internet access, email and access to the franchise-owner website. Clean Eatz may pull sales and operating data, require hardware or software upgrades and audit the underlying records. The 2026 FDD does not name the current POS vendor, ordering platform or exclusive equipment supplier.
Operating decision boundary
| Area | Clean Eatz control | Franchisee responsibility or discretion |
|---|---|---|
| Menu and products | Authorizes required products and future System additions. | Forecasts demand, orders inputs and executes production. |
| Suppliers | Designates, approves and may revoke suppliers; three categories are exclusive. | Selects among approved options where alternatives are permitted. |
| Employees | Sets training and operating standards; approves the Manager. | Employs, schedules, compensates, supervises and trains the Café team. |
| Marketing | Controls brand creative, website, Brand Fund and ad approval. | Chooses local execution and vendors within the required spend and territory. |
| Technology and data | Specifies POS standards, accesses data and can mandate upgrades. | Maintains systems, cybersecurity, backups and accurate records. |
| Pricing | May set maximum prices for multi-area marketing and special promotions. | Broader local price-setting authority is not described in the FDD. |
Control basisClean Eatz 2026 FDD, Items 8, 11, 15 and 16, pp. 19-37; Franchise Agreement Sections 11 and 12.
What protection does the franchisee receive?
The franchisee receives a Protected Territory for one approved Café, but not an exclusive territory. Clean Eatz agrees not to place another fixed-location Clean Eatz franchise inside it, while reserving Internet, alternative-distribution, nontraditional-location and multi-area marketing rights.
Satellite Drops must stay inside the Protected Territory, and the franchisee generally may not sell outside it, sell for resale, conduct independent e-commerce or advertise independently on the Internet. Clean Eatz may sell through direct-to-consumer, wholesale, workplace delivery, military, airport, campus, grocery-kiosk and other reserved channels without compensating the Café.
The practical implication is channel dependence: online demand can be routed to the Café through the franchisor-controlled website, but the Franchise Agreement does not give the franchisee ownership of Internet demand in its Protected Territory. Customers can locate Cafés through the official location network, while Clean Eatz retains discretion over the website listing and alternative-channel fulfillment.
What does Item 20 show about the operating network?
At December 31, 2025, Clean Eatz reported 116 U.S. outlets: 114 franchised and 2 company-owned. The system is therefore overwhelmingly franchise-operated. The two company-owned outlets do not change the contractual division: independent franchisees operate the customer-facing Cafés, while the franchisor retains System control and support obligations.
Exact Item 20 population at December 31, 2025
Source and reconciliationClean Eatz 2026 FDD, Item 20, Table 1, pp. 46-47. Formula: 114 + 2 = 116; 114/116 = 98.3% and 2/116 = 1.7%, rounded to one decimal and totaling 100.0%. The public franchise site now describes 120+ locations, but does not provide a comparable reporting date, so it is not mixed into this exact chart.
Which operating details still require direct confirmation?
The contractual architecture is clear, but the current vendor stack and unit-level labor design are not fully disclosed. A buyer should verify these items against the current Manual, supplier list and proposed Franchise Agreement before modeling the day-to-day workload.
- Current POS and ordering stack: vendor names, integrations, data fields, support ownership and required replacement timetable.
- Exclusive equipment supplier: identity, service coverage, replacement process and whether local service contractors are permitted.
- Production cadence: current Meal Plan cutoff, batch-prep schedule, pickup window, waste controls and allocation of Café versus catering capacity.
- Staffing model: actual roles, cross-training, Manager coverage and labor schedule, because the FDD does not prescribe headcount.
- Express separation: whether any proposed opportunity is a Café, Express or another format, and which FDD and agreement govern it.
- Protected Territory map: exact boundaries, Satellite Drop permissions and expected interaction with franchisor-controlled digital and alternative channels.
Operating-model synthesis
Clean Eatz converts individual and group demand into Café transactions, weekly Meal Plan batches, Grab-N-Go inventory, Marketplace sales and Catering orders. The franchisee's central responsibility is disciplined on-premises execution: staffing, food production, service, local marketing, supplier ordering, records and compliance. The strongest dependency is the franchisor's control of the Manual, authorized products, suppliers, POS data, digital channels and Protected Territory exceptions. The key distinction is that territory protection covers fixed-location Clean Eatz Cafés, not the Internet or reserved alternative channels. The largest undisclosed operating question is the current vendor-and-labor stack required to run each weekly production cycle.