Sue Sauer Named Senior Vice President of Franchise Operations at Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii

New leadership appointment

With over 40 years of franchise restaurant operations and training experience, Sauer is an expert in working with franchisees and helping them improve and grow. Sauer spent 18 years working with Wendy’s in the roles of Franchise Market Consultant, Area Director, and Field Training Manager, where she gained vast experience and expertise in franchise operations.

“I measure my success by the success of our franchisees,” said Sauer. “They are a huge part in helping us grow our brand and becoming a major player in the coffee space – alongside them, we have a great product, a great story, and the Aloha Spirit to guide us. Getting to work with our legacy franchisees and new franchisees is incredibly rewarding as I get to be in the field seeing first-hand how stores are performing. I am excited for what is to come in this new role as we make strategic enhancements to streamline and strengthen operations.”

Bad Ass Coffee continues to achieve high performance marks with a 76% average unit volume increase compared to that of pre-COVID, 2019*. Operational enhancements such as the implementation of a single POS platform and the brand’s first ever loyalty program with an online/mobile ordering system have played a key role in growing these impressive metrics.

Franchise operations strategy

As Senior Vice President of Franchise Operations, Sauer will oversee the day-to-day performance, training, and development of all Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii franchisees. Her vision and focus for the department is centered on how to add value to the customer first. One of her initial goals is creating brand consistency through developing and implementing operating procedures, systems, etc.

With this comes an element of standardizing processes and educating franchisees on the brand vision. She is also planning to focus on strengthening field presence to help franchisees increase sales, open new sites, and confidently implement new products and operating procedures.

"Since joining the Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii ‘ohana nearly three years ago, Sue Sauer has literally built a franchise operations infrastructure from scratch while providing our franchisees with outstanding support and training for our growing franchisee community,” said Scott Snyder, CEO for Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii. “Sue’s vision, experience and leadership have been foundational to our franchise success to date and will help us to set a new “gold standard” for franchising in the competitive coffee segment. This well-deserved promotion is a reflection of the positive impact that she’s made on the relaunch of this emerging brand."

The success of Bad Ass Coffee has not gone unnoticed. The brand recently ranked on QSR’s 2023 40/40 List as one of America’s hottest emerging fast casual brands, in addition to QSR’s Top 50 – 2022 Contenders as a brand to watch. Notably, CEO Scott Snyder was recognized by Automatic Merchandiser as a 2022 Pros to Know award winner for his accomplishments in moving the industry forward.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii closed out a record-breaking 2022, awarding 45 franchise agreements while opening eight new stores. Amid this era of high-growth, the brand plans to continue to increase its brand awareness while honoring its Hawaiian heritage. Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii was born on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1989 with the dream of sharing American-grown, premium Hawaiian coffee with customers everywhere.

In addition to premium coffee from the famous Kona region of the Big Island, Bad Ass Coffee also sources from Kauai and Maui. Beyond premium Hawaiian coffees, Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii serves up a full menu of popular blended drinks, signature lattes, cold brews, teas, innovative foods with a Hawaiian twist, and branded merchandise.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii is looking to partner with qualified and engaged individuals seeking single and multi-unit opportunities. The brand offers an affordable, highly scalable opportunity with strong profit-potential. Franchisees can expect a total investment range between $385,500-$778,000*. As International Franchise Association VetFran members, veteran franchisees who join will receive a $10,000 discount* off the initial franchise fee.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii was born on the Big Island of Hawai’i in 1989 and is dedicated to sharing premium Hawaiian coffees “with a kick” from the Hawaiian Islands through 30-plus U.S. franchise locations – with additional shops in various stages of development.

Today, Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii stores also serve popular blended drinks, teas, food, along with other international premium coffees and sell popular branded merchandise with exceptional service and the Aloha Spirit. Bad Ass Coffees are available in franchise stores, online and will soon be available through grocery, hospitality, and specialty retail channels. The Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii brand and franchise is owned by Royal Aloha Franchise Company, LLC.