Questions about owning a Graze Craze Franchise? Start here.

None at all. Graze Craze’s comprehensive training program is built for franchisees from every background from; corporate professionals, veterans, entrepreneurs, and career changers. Many of our top-performing owners came from business, sales, or service industries with no prior food experience.

What matters isn’t whether you know how to cook. It’s whether you can follow a system, manage a team, and build relationships in your area. Graze Craze’s training covers everything from board assembly and food safety to local marketing and building a corporate catering client book.

Graze Craze franchisees can serve customers through three primary revenue channels: retail and online orders, corporate catering, and event catering.

Retail and online orders give individuals and families an easy way to order boards, boxes, and grazing options for birthdays, game days, dinner parties, date nights, holidays, and everyday celebrations.

Corporate catering helps owners build relationships with offices, companies, and organizations that need fresh, polished food for meetings, client lunches, team events, employee appreciation, and recurring business occasions.

Event catering brings Graze Craze to weddings, showers, fundraisers, sporting events, community gatherings, and private celebrations where boards and grazing tables can become part of the experience.

Together, these channels give owners more than one way to build the business. A customer who orders a board for a party may later need a client gift. A corporate lunch can turn into a recurring catering relationship. A grazing table at one event can introduce Graze Craze to the next host in the room.

That is the beauty of the model: every order is also an opportunity to be seen, shared, remembered, and invited back to the next occasion.

Graze Craze gives you a structured way to start a charcuterie business with an established brand, training, vendor relationships, operating systems, and franchise support instead of building everything from scratch.

Starting independently can give you more flexibility, but it also means creating your own brand, menu, ordering process, supplier network, marketing strategy, food safety standards, and customer acquisition plan. For many independent operators, the hardest part is not making beautiful boards. It is turning that skill into a full business with repeatable systems and multiple ways to grow.

With Graze Craze, franchisees step into a model built around boards, boxes, grazing tables, catering, gifting, events, and local orders. You trade some independence for a defined playbook, comprehensive training, brand standards, technology systems, vendor support, and guidance from United Franchise Group.

For a deeper breakdown, see our blog: How to Start a Charcuterie Business: Franchise vs. Independent

The Graze Craze franchise investment covers the brand rights, training, tools, systems, launch support, and resources needed to open and operate your location within the franchise system.

Your investment includes:

• Franchise fee and rights to operate under the Graze Craze brand
• Initial training and onboarding
• Grand opening support and local marketing launch assistance
• Equipment, hardware, and technology systems
• Signage, uniforms, and branded materials
• Initial inventory to help you prepare for opening
• Access to Graze Craze operating systems and brand standards
• Vendor and supplier relationships
• Marketing resources and national brand assets
• Ongoing support from the Graze Craze team and United Franchise Group

You are not starting with a blank board. As a franchisee, you are joining a system backed by United Franchise Group’s franchise experience, with support designed to help you learn the model, open with confidence, and bring Graze Craze to your community.

For a closer look at the investment range and what is included, visit our Franchise Investment page.

Graze Craze generally requires a more streamlined investment than many traditional restaurant franchises because it does not require a commercial kitchen, cooking line, fryers, grills, exhaust hoods, or grease traps.

That difference matters. Traditional restaurant concepts often come with more complex buildouts, permitting, equipment needs, staffing models, and day-to-day kitchen operations. Graze Craze is built around fresh assembly, presentation, catering, gifting, and order fulfillment instead of cooking.

For franchise owners, that can mean a simpler path into the food category compared to many restaurant models, while still offering a product built for meetings, events, gifts, celebrations, and local orders.

For more detail, visit our franchise investment page.

Yes. Graze Craze franchise candidates may have access to third-party financing resources, and qualifying U.S. military veterans may be eligible for dedicated veteran incentives.

During the discovery process, your franchise development contact can share financing resources through lenders familiar with the Graze Craze franchise model. If you are active duty, retired, or honorably discharged, be sure to ask about current veteran incentives and eligibility.

For more details, visit our veteran franchise program page

The initial training program is approximately four weeks and takes place at Graze Craze’s corporate headquarters. You’ll train alongside the Graze Craze team with hands-on instruction in every area of the business.

After classroom and in-store training, you’ll receive grand opening support from the corporate team as you launch in your market. Training doesn’t end at opening day — ongoing support continues throughout your franchise relationship, including access to fellow franchisees across the network.

For a closer look at what training includes, visit our training and support page.

After opening, Graze Craze franchisees receive ongoing support in operations, marketing, vendor relationships, technology, product updates, and business coaching.

Support does not stop at your grand opening. As a franchisee, you can continue to access:

• The Graze Craze operations team for day-to-day business questions
• Marketing resources, national campaigns, and updated brand assets
• Vendor and supplier guidance and buying power
• Technology and systems support
• Research and development updates as new products and menu items are introduced
• Business coaching and operational guidance
• A community of fellow Graze Craze franchisees sharing ideas and best practices
• United Franchise Group’s broader franchise infrastructure and experience

You are not building on your own after the first board leaves the shop. You are part of a franchise system designed to help you keep learning, improving, and growing.

For more detail, visit our training and support page.

The typical timeline from signing your franchise agreement to your grand opening runs approximately [VERIFY: X–Y months], depending on factors including real estate selection, permitting in your market, and build-out timeline.

The process includes: territory confirmation, lease negotiation with real estate support from Graze Craze, permitting and build-out, four-week training, and grand opening preparation. Your franchise development contact will walk you through each step and timeline during the discovery process.

For a step-by-step overview: Steps to Ownership

Yes. Graze Craze is part of United Franchise Group, which operates franchise brands across 80+ countries. International and master franchise opportunities are available for qualified investors who want to develop the brand in their market.

For international inquiries, including Mexico, Canada, and the UK, see: Master Franchise Opportunities → 

Yes. Graze Craze offers dedicated incentives for qualifying US military veterans through the VetFran program. The discipline, systems-thinking, and leadership that military service develops maps directly onto what makes a Graze Craze franchisee successful and we’ve built a program that recognizes and rewards that background.

For full details on the veteran program and incentives →

Graze Craze has been consistently recognized across the franchise industry, including:

• Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 — ranked among the leading franchise concepts in the country
• Global Franchise Awards 2026 — named a finalist in the global awards program
• Consistent coverage in national trade press including Fast Casual, Restaurant Business Online, and Catersource
• Consumer media features including Homes & Gardens, ATL Live, and ABC affiliate coverage

See all press coverage: Press & Media →

See all awards: Franchise Awards →

A typical Graze Craze storefront is approximately 500–1,000 square feet, with a compact footprint designed around fresh assembly, pickup, delivery, catering, and gifting rather than a traditional restaurant kitchen.

Because Graze Craze does not require dine-in seating, large cooking equipment, fryers, hoods, or grease traps, the real estate model is generally smaller and more streamlined than many restaurant concepts. Graze Craze also supports franchisees through site selection, including guidance around demographics, traffic, visibility, accessibility, and other local factors that can influence location fit.

Your location becomes the hub for boards, boxes, grazing tables, catering, gifting, and local orders in your community.

No. Graze Craze’s model does not require a commercial kitchen, grease trap, exhaust hood, or the complex permitting that traditional restaurant franchises involve. Our assembly-based model operates from a compact retail space with standard food handling requirements. That difference alone removes one of the biggest cost, time, and complexity barriers in food franchising.

Graze Craze provides the brand, systems, training, supplier relationships, marketing resources, franchise support, and franchisee network you would otherwise have to build from scratch.

Starting an independent charcuterie business means creating your own name, menu, ordering process, food safety standards, supplier network, marketing plan, and operating systems. Making beautiful boards is only one part of the business. The harder part is turning that skill into a repeatable model that can support catering, gifting, events, and local orders.

With Graze Craze, franchisees step into an established charcuterie franchise model with brand recognition, operating systems, vendor resources, training, and support from United Franchise Group’s franchise infrastructure.

In other words, you are not starting with a blank board. You are building with a system already behind you.

For a closer look at what franchisees have experienced with the brand, visit our Franchise Testimonials page.

Graze Craze is led by Brand President Cory Hibbard and supported by a broader team across franchise development, operations, training, marketing, technology, vendor support, and United Franchise Group’s franchise infrastructure.

The original Graze Craze concept was founded by Kerry Sylvester, who saw the opportunity to turn artful charcuterie boards into a business built around catering, gifting, events, and celebrations. Today, the brand continues to build on that idea with a franchise model designed to help owners bring boards, boxes, grazing tables, and gifts to their communities.

As President, Cory Hibbard leads Graze Craze’s growth strategy, franchisee support, and long-term brand direction. He brings experience from United Franchise Group, where he helped support the growth of franchise brands before stepping into leadership with Graze Craze.

Behind Cory is a full team focused on helping franchisees learn the model, open their locations, market locally, serve customers, and grow with support from an experienced franchise organization.

Learn more about the people behind the brand on our Meet the Team page.

Yes. Catering is a core part of the Graze Craze model, giving franchisees a way to serve corporate offices, events, client gifts, community gatherings, and celebrations beyond everyday pickup or online orders.

Graze Craze owners can build relationships with businesses, event planners, venues, schools, nonprofits, realtors, and local organizations that need fresh, polished food for meetings, team lunches, client events, weddings, fundraisers, parties, and special occasions.

Corporate catering can be especially valuable because it creates opportunities for repeat orders and scheduled business. A team lunch can become a monthly account. A client gift can introduce Graze Craze to another company. A grazing table at one event can lead to the next celebration.

For a deeper look at the catering opportunity, read our blog: Catering Franchise Opportunity.

Successful Graze Craze franchisees, or Grazologists™, are typically relationship-driven, service-minded owners who can follow a system, build local connections, and create memorable customer experiences.

You do not need food industry experience to get started. What matters most is the way you approach the business. Strong Grazologists™ tend to share a few key traits:

They build relationships. Corporate catering, gifting, and event orders often grow through local connections with businesses, event planners, schools, nonprofits, realtors, and community organizations.

They follow the system. Graze Craze provides a defined model, and owners who embrace the playbook are better positioned to deliver a consistent brand experience.

They care about service. The boards may get the photos, but the customer experience is what keeps people coming back.

They stay involved in the community. Local visibility, partnerships, and events help owners introduce Graze Craze to more people.

They are willing to learn and lead. Veterans, corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, and career-changers can all bring valuable skills to the model.

For more on what makes a strong owner, visit our Ideal Candidate page.

Yes. Prospective Graze Craze franchisees need to meet the brand’s financial qualifications, including $50,000 in liquid capital and a minimum net worth of $100,000.

Beyond the financial requirements, Graze Craze looks for candidates who are motivated to actively build the business, serve their community, and follow the franchise system. The brand is often a strong fit for owner-operators who want to be involved in local relationship-building, catering, gifting, events, and customer experience.

Semi-absentee and absentee ownership models may also be available for qualified multi-unit developers.

For more details on investment requirements, visit our Franchise Investment page. To see what makes a strong owner, visit our Ideal Candidate page.

Veterans are a strong fit for Graze Craze because the model rewards many of the same qualities developed through military service: discipline, leadership, attention to detail, systems thinking, and follow-through.

Graze Craze is built around a defined operating system, consistent brand standards, customer service, catering execution, and local relationship-building. Veterans understand how to follow a process, lead a team, manage moving parts, and stay focused under pressure, all of which translate well into franchise ownership.

The catering side of the business also requires proactive outreach, consistency, and relationship management. From corporate lunches to community events and client gifting, owners who show up, follow up, and build trust can create meaningful local opportunities.

For more details, visit our Veteran Franchise Program page.