Operating model
How does a Hissho franchise operate after opening?
A Hissho franchise operates inside a third-party Retail Host. The franchisee prepares approved sushi or Asian food and maintains production and safety records; the host handles checkout. Hissho controls the location relationship, standards, designated inputs, technology, reporting, and payment reconciliation.
The customer pays through the Retail Host, not a franchisee register. The host retains its contractual share and sends funds to Hissho International, LLC, which applies authorized deductions and remits the Franchise Commission on a four-week cycle.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Items 1, 6, 8, and 15, pp. 1–5, 13–21, 27–30, and 51–52; official ServSafe Manager and ANAB certification directory.
Formats and demand
What does the franchisee sell, and who buys it?
The franchisee sells approved sushi, packaged accompaniments, or Asian hot dishes to shoppers already using a supermarket, hospital, university, airport, military installation, or other Retail Host. Menu, mark, hours, placement, and format depend on the assigned site.
Prepared on site
Full Service Sushi Bar
Personnel prepare approved sushi for carryout and limited on-premises use where seating exists. Hissho designates all-hours coverage or its 30–35-hour part-time schedule.
Public description: Hissho’s retail-partner page calls this a “Deli Counter” with chef production and custom ordering.
Delivered from a base unit
Satellite Sushi Bar
No sushi is prepared on site. A paired Full Service Sushi Bar prepares and delivers product to the display under a Satellite addendum.
Public description: Hissho calls it a “Grab-And-Go Kiosk,” an unmanned case replenished by fresh daily delivery.
Hot-food production
Asian Food Bar
Personnel prepare approved Asian hot dishes on site throughout operating hours. The 2026 FDD says this format does not currently sell sushi.
Menu boundary: Required System products, approved favorites, and permitted chef specials must follow approved ingredients, ratios, and methods.
Retail Host traffic is the main demand source. Hissho’s location page lists supermarkets, campuses, military bases, and airports; its product page shows rolls, poke bowls, and custom rolls. The FDD controls the individual unit’s permitted offer.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Items 1 and 16, pp. 1–5 and 52; Franchise Agreement §§1 and 7, pp. E-2, E-15–E-16.
Transaction cycle
How does work move through a Hissho unit?
Retail Host traffic feeds ordering, preparation, labeling, display, and host checkout. The cycle closes with food-safety records, financial reporting, and Hissho’s four-week Franchise Commission reconciliation.
Generate demand
- Actor
- Retail Host, franchisee, Hissho.
- Action
- Use host traffic, required promotions, approved local advertising, and permitted active sampling.
- System or asset
- Approved materials and assigned Proprietary Mark.
- Output
- A shopper reaches the counter or refrigerated display.
Forecast and order inputs
- Actor
- Operating Principal, manager, or personnel.
- Action
- Forecast production, order approved inputs, receive shipments, rotate stock, and store ingredients under required controls.
- System or asset
- Hissho email, refrigeration, inventory records.
- Output
- Approved ingredients are available for scheduled production.
Prepare, label, and replenish
- Actor
- Trained franchisee personnel.
- Action
- Follow recipes and planograms, print labels, stock displays, and record waste. Satellite product is made at the paired Full Service Sushi Bar.
- System or asset
- Approved equipment, Hissho Label System, BOHA!, display.
- Output
- Properly labeled product is available for sale.
Serve and complete the sale
- Actor
- Personnel, customer, Retail Host.
- Action
- Serve customers, prepare permitted custom orders, maintain the case, and use the Retail Host checkout.
- System or asset
- Retail Host POS; generally no franchisee POS.
- Output
- The Retail Host records and collects the transaction.
Reconcile and remit
- Actor
- Retail Host and Hissho International.
- Action
- The host retains its Service Commission and sends funds to Hissho, which applies authorized deductions and reconciles the account.
- System or asset
- Host records, Hissho statements, electronic transfer.
- Output
- Franchise Commission is remitted on the four-week cycle when host funds have been received.
Record, inspect, and correct
- Actor
- Manager, Operating Principal, Hissho, and authorized inspectors.
- Action
- Record opening, closing, production, shrink, temperatures, and food safety; retain books; report financials; correct inspection findings.
- System or asset
- Digital Logbook, manual, email, financial records.
- Output
- A documented compliance trail and the next production plan.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Items 6, 8, and 11, pp. 13–46; Franchise Agreement §§4, 7, 9, and 11, pp. E-5–E-22; Operations Manual §§D–F, pp. K-3–K-6; official BOHA! Labeling page.
Responsibility map
Who performs each operating function?
The franchisee performs production and supervision. Hissho controls the System and reconciliation; the Retail Host controls the retail setting and checkout; designated suppliers control most approved inputs and key technology.
Each party controls a different dependency in the same customer transaction.
Franchisee
Supervises personnel; orders and stores inputs; prepares, labels, displays, cleans, records, and corrects operations.
Hissho International
Controls the format, mark, standards, suppliers, technology, inspections, promotions, data, and Franchise Commission reconciliation.
Retail Host
Provides space, traffic, checkout, operating-hour context, pricing or performance rules, and initial custody of sales proceeds.
Lwin and technology providers
Lwin supplies most food inputs and certain equipment; TransAct Technologies supports BOHA! labeling.
Item 8 estimates that required or approved arrangements cover approximately all establishment and operating purchases or leases. Lwin Family Co, LLC is the affiliated supplier and current sole approved distributor of most food items. Alternatives need written approval; sushi fish must come from designated sources.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Items 1, 8, and 11, pp. 1–5, 27–30, and 34–46; Equipment Lease and Software License Agreement, Attachment D, pp. D-1–D-7.
Owner role and staffing
Can a Hissho unit be absentee-owned or entirely manager-run?
The 2026 FDD does not support an absentee-ownership characterization. The franchisee must designate an Operating Principal who devotes full time and best efforts to supervising and conducting the business, completes required training, and signs the guaranty. Every unit must also remain under direct, on-premises supervision of a manager.
The Operating Principal and the on-premises manager are distinct functions even when one person can perform both. The same Operating Principal may cover multiple units owned by the franchisee, but the agreement still requires each unit to have direct on-premises managerial supervision.
The individual accountable for full-time supervision, training, best efforts, and the contractual guaranty.
The person providing direct on-premises supervision whenever the unit operates.
Employees who prepare, label, stock, serve, clean, sample, and complete records.
Each staffed preparation unit needs at least one ServSafe-certified person on duty.
The franchisee generally chooses personnel, subject to the Operating Principal requirement, law, host access, confidentiality, training, certification, and brand standards. The documents provide no standard headcount, shift pattern, or labor-hours benchmark.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Item 15, pp. 51–52; Franchise Agreement §7, pp. E-12 and E-14.
Systems and control
Which systems are mandatory, and what decisions remain local?
Hissho mandates the supplier, product, label, logbook, communications, and reporting framework. The franchisee manages personnel, scheduling, production quantities, approved menu choices, and certain produce purchases, but cannot independently change core inputs, technology, location, channels, or standards.
Hissho-controlled or restricted
- Products, recipes, ingredients, methods, planograms, and discontinued items.
- Designated or approved suppliers, testing, and approval revocation.
- Hissho Label System, BOHA!, Digital Logbook tablet, updates, replacement, and access.
- Manual revisions, inspections, records, reports, and logbook data access.
- Proprietary Mark, promotions, local advertising, and Internet approval.
Franchisee operating decisions
- Recruit and manage staff within Operating Principal and compliance constraints.
- Schedule manager and food-safety coverage for required operating periods.
- Set production quantities, inventory rotation, replenishment, and waste controls.
- Select approved products and permitted chef specials.
- Buy produce and propose alternative suppliers for approval.
The Hissho Label System uses a touch-screen printer and licensed software. A Hissho-owned tablet runs the Digital Logbook for opening, closing, production, shrink, temperatures, and other fields. Hissho has real-time data access and can push updates.
The Hissho-domain email used for orders and statements remains Hissho property and is accessible to Hissho. Financial records must be retained five years, with periodic balance sheets, profit-and-loss statements, and requested reports.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Items 8 and 11, pp. 27–46; Franchise Agreement §§7, 9, and 11, pp. E-15–E-22; Attachment D.
Location and channels
What territory, pricing, and sales-channel limits apply?
A Hissho franchise receives no exclusive territory. Rights attach to the assigned Food Retail Unit, while Hissho may authorize competing units or channels nearby. Customers may come from anywhere, but preparation and sales generally stay at the assigned site.
Location rights depend on Hissho’s or an affiliate’s Retail Host agreement. If it terminates or narrows, the franchisee’s site rights can do the same; Hissho need not relocate or compensate the unit.
The Retail Host can impose hours, pricing, performance standards, and site rules. It also selects the authorized Proprietary Mark: Hissho Sushi, Ōumi Sushi, Sushi With Gusto, Ibasho Sushi, Shizen, Soku, Healthy Sushi, or Delicious Sushi.
Online, alternate-channel, and off-site sales are restricted. Internet presence and alternative distribution require approval. Products normally must be prepared and sold at the Food Retail Unit, except host-directed catering.
Local advertising needs approved materials and prior approval; no approval within 15 days means rejection. Franchisees must join designated national promotions and may later face a regional cooperative requirement. Hissho’s franchise page describes support and retail distribution; its consumer site presents the customer offer.
Sources: 2026 Hissho FDD, Items 1, 11, 12, and 16, pp. 1–5, 34–47, 52; Franchise Agreement §§5 and 12, pp. E-11, E-23–E-24.
System footprint
What does Item 20 show about the Hissho outlet base?
At December 31, 2025, Hissho reported 2,750 U.S. outlets: 2,614 franchisee-owned and 136 company-operated. The year-end mix was 95.1% franchisee-owned and 4.9% company-operated.
Exact Item 20 counts reconcile to 2,750 outlets and 100.0%.
Interpretation: The footprint is predominantly franchisee-operated; Hissho Operations, LLC runs the company-unit population.
Source: 2026 Hissho FDD, Item 20, Table 1, p. 58. Percentages equal count divided by 2,750 and round to one decimal place.
Total outlets rose from 2,442 in 2024 to 2,750 in 2025, up 308. Item 20 also reports 435 franchised openings, 123 terminations, 80 reacquisitions, and 323 transfers. Growth and ownership turnover are separate operating signals.
Source: 2026 Hissho FDD, Item 20, Tables 1–4, pp. 58–71.
Buyer verification
Which operating details require unit-specific confirmation?
Several decisive variables sit in the unit attachment, Retail Host arrangement, supplier program, and local schedule. They must be verified for the exact Food Retail Unit.
- Attachment A: assigned format, location, mark, term, Franchise Commission formula, and Satellite addendum.
- Retail Host terms: deductions, pricing, performance standards, hours, branding, access, and expiration.
- Production path: Full Service staffing designation and any Satellite preparation and delivery route.
- Supply program: Lwin deadlines, shipment frequency, produce exception, freight, substitutions, and fish sources.
- Technology stack: label hardware, BOHA! terms, logbook fields, data access, updates, support, and replacement.
- Staffing coverage: schedule on-premises management, required hours, training, and ServSafe coverage.
The FDD provides no standard headcount, labor-hours model, shift design, or complete unit-specific Retail Host economics and performance thresholds. Those variables determine the actual staffing and production plan.
Synthesis