FranchiseVerdict
Hot Stuff Pizza / Hot Stuff Kitchen logo
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Hot Stuff Pizza / Hot Stuff Kitchen

Formerly known as Orion Food Systems

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1994Website
Investment
$63K – $173K
3rd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
Units
752
96th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $63K – $173K including a $0 franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 71/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 7 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -16.7% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
ORION FOOD SYSTEMS, LLC
Parent company
Performance Manufacturing, LLC
Incorporated in
South Dakota
HQ
2930 West Maple Street, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57107
Auditor
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$58.3B
vs $57.3B prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Hot Stuff Pizza / Hot Stuff Kitchen unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $63K–$173K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $26K–$51K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

67%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$105K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$157K
Payback
18 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Hot Stuff Pizza franchisees operate quick-service or casual pizza restaurants, managing daily food prep, customer service, delivery logistics, and staffing. Operators handle order fulfillment, quality control, and local marketing with minimal ongoing franchisor fees or support infrastructure.

CEO
Raden Smith
Founded
1993
FDD year
2024
States available
39

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$63K – $173K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$26K – $51K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$0
Royalty
no royalty or other continuing fee is required
Ad fund
n/d

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
752
Opened
24
Last reporting year
Closed
95
Turnover rate
12.6%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-8.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-16.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
752-71
Franchised units
2023
823
Franchised units
2024
903
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 12 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 12 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
7
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

71
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION71 / 100

Hot Stuff Pizza presents HIGH RISK due to system contraction, missing financial performance data, lack of territorial protection, and unclear franchisor financial health, despite low entry cost.

Score breakdown · what drove the 71 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORSystem declining 8.6% YoY with 752 units suggesting market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MINORNo financial disclosure (Item 19) — average revenue and net income not provided, making ROI assessment impossible
  3. 03MINORZero franchise fee with no royalties is unusual and may indicate weak franchisor support model or inability to enforce standards
  4. 04MINORNo protected territory combined with declining unit count creates oversaturation risk and direct franchisee competition
  5. 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years), limiting franchisee ability to recoup $63K-$173K investment
  6. 06HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — ambiguous language suggesting potential financial instability of franchisor

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
No
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
South Dakota

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
8 hrs
On-the-job training
39 hrs
POS system
RightBytes System
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

99 numbers

Locked
(251) 246-••••
AL
(251) 843-••••
AL
(515) 295-••••
IA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Hot Stuff Pizza / Hot Stuff Kitchen · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above