The Deal
Mokas Coffee & Eatery, the Salina, Kansas-based breakfast-and-lunch café concept operated under the JRI Hospitality portfolio, has signed a nine-unit area development agreement with Cornerstone Hospitality — its largest single franchise commitment to date. The deal allocates six units across Clay and Jackson Counties on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro, with three additional franchise units directed to the Kansas markets of Derby, Garden City, and Manhattan. Site selection is active, with 2027 openings targeted across the full pipeline.
The agreement brings Mokas' total development pipeline to roughly 24 units when combined with the 15 locations already under development in Wichita and other Kansas markets. The brand currently operates five corporate-owned units — two in Salina and Colby and three in Wichita — giving it a compact but established footprint as it pushes into franchised territory.
The Franchisee Profile
Cornerstone Hospitality is led by Brice Turner and Jeff Bennett, both with multi-sector entrepreneurial backgrounds. Turner, an Army veteran, founded Duty First Holdings in 2010 and has grown it into a portfolio spanning manufacturing, non-destructive inspection, and commercial real estate. Bennett brings construction, land development, and prior multi-unit franchise operations experience on the East Coast — a profile that fits the area development model Mokas is pursuing as it scales beyond its Kansas base.
Jason Ingermanson, CEO of JRI Hospitality and President of Mokas Coffee & Eatery, pointed to the pair's community-building track record as the deciding factor. "They understand what it takes to build something meaningful in a community, and that's exactly the spirit Mokas was built on," Ingermanson said.
Bennett framed the timing around a broader post-pandemic shift in consumer demand. "Post-COVID, people are looking for gathering spaces again," he said, noting the concept's positioning as a venue for casual social outings, family meals, and business meetings — a daypart flexibility that differentiates Mokas from drive-thru-only QSR coffee competitors.
Segment Context
The nine-unit commitment lands as the specialty coffee-and-eatery segment continues to attract franchise capital away from pure-play beverage concepts. Operators are increasingly pairing in-house roasted coffee with made-to-order food menus to drive higher check averages and extend dwell time beyond the morning daypart — a model that competes with both fast-casual breakfast chains and independent café operators in secondary Midwestern markets.
Mokas roasts its own beans at the Mokas Roastery, a vertical integration play that supports margin control and brand differentiation. The menu spans specialty coffee, cold brew, energy drinks, smoothies, breakfast burritos, wraps, sandwiches, soups, salads, and freshly baked pastries — all prepared in-house. Units offer both drive-thru and dine-in formats, a dual-channel setup that has become table stakes for new café development as operators balance throughput with the community-gathering positioning the brand markets.
For JRI Hospitality — which operates 145-plus units across 18 states and holds the largest franchisee position in the Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers system with more than 130 locations — Mokas represents a strategic franchise development initiative layered on top of its existing multi-brand operating model. The Cornerstone deal signals the parent group is accelerating the asset-light franchise growth track for the café brand as a complement to its corporate-owned and operated footprint.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
