By: Maria Williams

The franchise model is a profitable one for both franchisors and franchisees. However, franchisors must determine how to monitor and enforce brand standards without micromanaging each location. Stuart Levy, Managing Director of international Jamaican franchise Juici Patties USA, has developed a method of oversight that still affords franchisees agency.

Juici Patties started in Jamaica, where it quickly became the country’s top fast-food franchise. In 2024, the company began its American expansion. Most of its locations are in Florida and New York, but Juici Patties’ leadership aims to eventually open stores across the country.

Juici Patties has experienced rapid growth, in part due to the strong relationships it builds with its franchisees. But as the company and its total number of locations expand, they have had to find ways of monitoring each franchise.

“We use spot checks to strike a balance between maintaining control of brand standards and empowering franchises to operate independently,” Levy explains. “We have mystery shoppers that go into the locations on a monthly basis. They check out the standards. We get the reports instantaneously. The franchisees see the reports as well.”

“We grade the stores off of those mystery shoppers,” he continues. “The grades determine whether they’re able to open more stores or whether we need to have them held accountable for certain breaches.”

Juici Patties also collaborates with third-party auditors who take a detailed look at each store’s operations. “They go in and use our franchise management software to do visit audits, checking up on how long patties are held, how the patties are baked, every standard operating procedure that we have for operating a store,” Levy says. “And again, we can track that through the software, and the franchisee has access to it.”

The audit itself is important, but the way Juici Patties uses the feedback may be even more critical when it comes to each store’s success.

“We can use the audits to give homework,” Levy says. “So, if, for example, we find that a store has too many leftover patties, we can assign a task directly to that franchisee to ensure they don’t exceed X amount.”

Although Levy emphasizes the importance of franchise oversight, he has also found that when Juici gives franchisees some level of creative control, their performance improves.

“We give them a lot of leeway to make decisions and do things differently,” he says. “It just has to be approved by us, and they simply have to ask a question. Sometimes it is as easy as a texted question. Sometimes it might call for a more in-depth meeting where we discuss and find common ground.

Levy provides an example of a store in New York that offered packets of hot sauce with their patties. The hot sauce was not from Juici Patties or even Jamaican-branded, but customers loved it. “We said, ‘Well, if people are asking for it and it’s moving, then by all means,’” he says.

In this venture and others, Juici Patties has shown that it’s capable of balancing automation with a human touch.

Software systems monitor patty hold times and other key operational metrics, and auditors generate reports of those metrics. However, if a franchisee falls short of expectations, these reports are not used to shame or punish them. Instead, they represent an opportunity for constructive coaching.

When franchisees know that they can come to corporate for help, they will be far more likely to proactively address problems. Mystery shoppers, micro-audits, and other forms of franchisee monitoring are not just ways to enforce brand standards. They are a sign that Juici Patties’ culture of collaboration is alive and thriving.