Ever wonder what corporate actually does for Flying Biscuit franchisees once the doors are open? Here’s a pretty sweet answer: we just kicked off a six-week contest that’s putting thousands of real dollars into our servers’ pockets — and our franchise partners didn’t have to lift a finger to make it happen.
It’s called the Beignet Doughnut Bandwagon. And yes, the puns are part of the package.
What It Actually Is
The Beignet Bandwagon is a system-wide sales contest running April 6 through May 17 at all 42 Flying Biscuit Cafés. Every order of beignet doughnuts a server sells puts cash in their pocket — paid weekly, every Wednesday, no waiting around.
Here’s how the math works:
- $1 per order, no cap. Sell 10, make $10. Sell 50, make $50. You get the idea.
- $20 bonus for any server who clears 20+ orders in a single week.
- $25 every week to the top seller at each location. That’s 42 winners. Every. Single. Week.
- $50 team bonus at the top-selling location for every server with 10+ orders.
- Grand prize for the top 3 locations: $100 per server who sold 40+, $50 per kitchen team member, $200 per manager.
Three Weeks In, the Race Is Heating Up
Week 3 just closed and the leaderboard keeps flipping. Different winning location every single week:
- Week 1: Kingwood (130 beignets)
- Week 2: Birmingham (169 beignets)
- Week 3: Gainesville (178 beignets) — the new champion
This week alone, the system moved 2,521 beignets and corporate cut $4,366 in checks to servers across the 42 locations. Three weeks in, we’re past 7,200 beignets total.
The individual MVP this week? A server at Gainesville moved 41 beignets — and walked away with $136 for a single week of work. Right behind, the previous week’s top performer at Macon put up 40. Top sellers at Kingwood and Knoxville tied at 37. Twelve servers system-wide cleared the 20-order bonus threshold. Every single one of the 42 locations had at least one server take home the $25 top-seller bonus.
In other words: a lot of people just had a really good week. And the franchisees? Didn’t pay for a dollar of it.
Why This Matters If You’re Thinking About Franchising
Running a restaurant is hard. Hiring great people is harder. Keeping a fired-up, low-turnover team? Borderline mythical.
That’s where a program like the Beignet Bandwagon earns its keep. It does three things at once for our franchise partners:
1. It moves product. Beignets don’t sell themselves. But a server who knows there’s $20 waiting if they hit 20 orders? That server is going to mention beignets. Often. With enthusiasm.
2. It pays your team without hitting your P&L. Corporate funds the prize pool. Corporate tracks the leaderboard. Corporate hands the cash over every Wednesday. Your job is to cheer your crew on.
3. It builds culture. When the whole team is rallying behind a leaderboard, talking smack about beating Gainesville, racing for next week’s $25 — that’s a shift people actually want to work. That’s a team that sticks around. And in this industry, that’s gold.
For context: in 2025, our 5 Star Google Review Challenge paid out over $25,000 to servers and managers across the system. Same playbook, different goal. The point is — this isn’t a one-time thing. This is how we operate.
What Corporate Support Looks Like at Flying Biscuit
The Beignet Bandwagon is one example, but the philosophy runs through everything we do. We’re not the franchisor who disappears after grand opening. We build the systems, run the promotions, design the marketing, and put real money behind the people serving your guests.
You bring the local knowledge, the hospitality, and the hustle for your neighborhood. We bring the brand, the playbook, and — when the moment calls for it — a six-week contest that turns powdered sugar into paychecks.
That’s the deal. And it’s a pretty good one.
Ready to Hop On the Bandwagon?
If you’d like to learn what it looks like to own a Flying Biscuit Café — and get access to programs like the Beignet Bandwagon from day one — we’d love to talk.
Head over to our contact page and fill out the form. A real human will get back to you within 24 hours, and we’ll start the conversation about bringing one of these to your neighborhood.
Powdered sugar optional. Hustle required.
Source: The Beignet Doughnut Bandwagon contest, Flying Biscuit Café (April 6 – May 17, 2026).
