Dunkin’ Brands Inc. appointed former Panera Bread president Neal Yanofsky to the newly created position of president of its international division beginning May 2. He will report directly to Dunkin’ Brands chief executive and Dunkin’ Donuts president Nigel Travis.
In his new role, Yanofsky will be responsible for building both the Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands outside of the United States.
The two brands already account for some 16,000 restaurants, almost all franchised, in 57 countries. The company is based in Canton, Mass.
Earlier this month, Dunkin’ Brands filed plans with federal regulators to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering. At the time the company did not detail how many shares it would offer or a per-share price.
Yanofsky, most recently, served as chief executive of Generation Mobile, a wireless product retailer. He was president of the fast-casual Panera chain for five years before that.
He also was vice president of Fidelity Ventures, where he started and ran a group that invested in early stage growth companies, and before that he was chief marketing officer of the Au Bon Pain bakery-café chain.
“Neal is a strategic thinker with a demonstrated ability to build successful companies,” Travis said. “His vast knowledge of operations, finance and marketing make him ideally suited to lead our international operations, drive profitable growth and enhance support for our franchisees around the world. We are delighted to welcome him to Dunkin' Brands.”
“I look forward to working with our franchisees and licensees and the international management team to take advantage of our significant growth opportunities in both existing and new markets,” Yanofsky said.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].