Filta Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1996

Franchising Since: 1996

Headquarters: Orlando, Florida

Estimated Number of Units: 350

Franchise Description: Filta Group Inc. is the franchisor. The franchisor’s affiliate, The Filta Group Ltd. (Filta U.K.), has been offering FiltaFry franchises in the United Kingdom and other European countries since 1996. Under the Franchise Agreement, franchisees obtain the right to operate a Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions business within a defined service area. Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions franchises provide on-site services to restaurants, hotels, casinos, amusement parks, hospitals, universities, catering establishments, and institutional kitchens. The services include:

• FiltaFry: On-site microfiltration of cooking oil, fryer cleaning, temperature calibration, advice on good frying practices, and on-site dumping of used oil
• FiltaBio: Collection of waste cooking oil from customers’ premises and sale to Filta, to be resold mainly to biofuel producers
• FiltaCool: Installation of special filters in refrigeration units and walk-in coolers to provide all-natural temperature, humidity, and odor control
• FiltaGold: Sale and delivery of new cooking oil to customers
• FiltaDrain: Application of live bacterial solution to drainage pipes to clear blockages and remove odors
• FiltaClean: Commercial kitchen surface and equipment deep cleaning and sanitizing using steam and other methods

Training Overview: Successful completion of the initial training program is mandatory for the principal owner of the franchise and the designated operator, if other than the principal owner. Classroom training is held in Orlando, Florida, and on-the-job training is held in the franchisee’s territory or the territory of an existing franchisee. The franchisor also requires that all technicians that franchisees hire complete certain online courses, as described in the manual, before undertaking their duties. Until the earlier of 90 days after the franchisee’s opening date or when the business volume first exceeds $1,000 per week, franchisees must participate in all remote training sessions scheduled by the franchisor. If the franchisee’s business volume has not reached $1,000 per week by the end of three months of operation, franchisees must hold a business evaluation conference call with the franchisor and establish a business development plan. The franchisor can require franchisees and their personnel to attend additional or refresher training programs. The franchisor will make available additional on-site advice and further training as franchisees may reasonably request.

Territory Granted: The franchise is for a specific geographic area assigned by the franchisor, consisting of one or more of the territories defined by the franchisor’s mapping system. In selecting the mapped territories to include in the territory, the franchisor considers data such as the numbers of restaurants, health care facilities, education facilities, grocery stores, and other possible customers in the available territories. There is no specific minimum size for a territory. The territory is exclusive except as described by the franchisor in the FDD. This means that while the Franchise Agreement is in effect, the franchisor will not operate or license any person other than the franchisee to operate a business offering Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions services under the Filta name (or any other names and marks) from fixed premises or a van within the territory. If by the 37th month after the Opening Date franchisees are still not offering all of the services, the franchisor will have the right, on 30 days’ written notice, to modify the boundaries of the territory. If by the 48th month franchisees are still not offering all of the services, the franchisor will have the right to terminate the Franchise Agreement on 30 days’ written notice.

Obligations and Restrictions: The franchisor requires franchisees to form a corporation or limited liability company to engage in the Filta business. Franchisees must designate one of the owners to be the operator of the franchise. “Operator” means the individual who actively directs the affairs of the franchise and is responsible for overseeing the general management of the day-to-day operations of the franchise. If the franchisee is one individual, that individual is the operator. The operator must dedicate full time to the franchise and hold no other employment. Franchisees or their operator must maintain his or her primary residence within 100 miles of the territory defined as the “base franchise,” unless otherwise approved by the franchisor. Franchisees may only sell the products and services that the franchisor specifies in the manual as approved Environmental Kitchen Solutions services.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term is 10 years from the date of the Franchise Agreement. One renewal term of five years is available if requirements are met.

Financial Assistance: If and when franchisees reach the point of collecting 2,000 gallons of waste vegetable oil (WVO) per month, they must buy additional WVO collection equipment. The franchisor offers financing for the purchase of the required WVO collection equipment. The financing is for 100% of the purchase price of the equipment and the costs of freight, transportation, delivery, and installation of the equipment at the franchisee’s WVO storage facility. The franchisor will reduce the territory fee by $5,000 for qualifying veterans who enter into a Franchise Agreement. Except as noted, the franchisor does not offer direct or indirect financing to franchisees. The franchisor does not guarantee a franchisee’s promissory note, lease, or other obligation.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Territory Fee	$39,950	$39,950
Opening Package	$74,950	$74,950
Taxes on Opening Package	$0	$3,000
Van (includes $6,500 initial payment and $550-$600 per month for first 3 months; excluding applicable sales and use tax)	$8,150	$8,300
Travel Expenses for Training	$250	$1,500
Lodging Expenses During Field Training	$500	$850
Insurance	$2,300	$7,200
Information Technology	$0	$3,000
Additional Funds – 3 months	$5,000	$15,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$131,100	$153,750

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Base Royalty	A monthly fee equal to the greater of: (i) the amount determined by applying the royalty percentage(s) in the schedule (6.5% down to 4%, depending on revenue in calendar year) to base revenue for the prior month; or (ii) the minimum royalty of $650.
Marketing Contribution	1% of base revenue for the prior month.
MFU Filters	Currently $417 to $485 per case of 20 filters.
Spare Parts and Supplies	Currently $27 per panel for FiltaCool filters, $38 for FiltaCool holders, and $165 per box of FiltaDrain bacterial solution.
FiltaBio Fee	12.5% of FiltaBio revenue (only applicable when franchisees are selling WVO locally on their own terms).
FiltaGold Royalty	4% of FiltaGold revenue.
FiltaClean Training Fee	$15,000 fee for the first territory included within the assigned territory (as determined by the franchisor’s mapping system), plus $5,000 for each additional territory.
Conference Fee	Currently $45 per month per franchise, regardless of the number of territories comprising the overall territory.
Rebates to National Account Customers	Not paid to the franchisor. Certain national account contracts may require franchisees to pay volume rebates to the customer; rebate amounts vary.
Centralized Accounts	Up to 5% of amount invoiced to centralized account customer (not applicable to FiltaGold services).
Information System User Fee	A flat monthly amount. Currently: (i) $200 per month until gross revenue first reaches $1,000,000 for a calendar year; and then (ii) starting in the following calendar year, $300 per month.
Transfer Fee	Varies depending on type of transfer.
Termination Fee	See FDD. Payable only if franchisees exercise their right to terminate the Franchise Agreement without cause.
Expenses of Examination or Audit	Actual costs of the audit.
Dropped Lead Fee	$195 per dropped lead.
Liquidated Damages for Failure to Return MFU	$20,000 per MFU, but payable only if franchisees fail to return the MFU to the franchisor within 60 days after expiration or termination of the Franchise Agreement.
Indemnification	The franchisor’s actual losses, costs and expenses.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Filta. Year of FDD: 2025.
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