Le Duff America, the parent company of a string of French-themed cafes in the U.S., has tapped former Burger King executive Lionel Ladouceur as its new CEO.
Ladouceur replaces Olivier Poirot, wh served as CEO since summer of 2017.
Le Duff is a division Groupe Le Duff, a global French operator of nearly 2,000 bakery-cafés around the world. In the U.S., Le Duff’s most notable brands are Brioche Dorée, la Madeleine French Bakery & Café and Mimi's Café.
When Poirot started at Le Duff, he was charged with accelerating the company’s growth through franchising.
Ladouceur will oversee restaurant operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He comes to Le Duff with years of international operations experience. He started his restaurant career working for McDonald's in Canada and France and has since worked for Burger King’s Continental Europe division and Bridor, a foodservice supplier of European baked goods.
Earlier this year, Le Duff said it will be focusing on building its legacy Brioche Dorée brand in the U.S. In April, the company closed the sale of Canada-based Timothy’s World Coffee and Mmmuffins concepts to a subsidiary of MTY Food Group Inc., owner of Kahala Brands. The sale, for $1.7 million in Canadian dollars, included 32 franchised and seven corporate locations.
Brioche Dorée, a French fast-food chain, was founded in 1976 by Louis Le Duff in Brest, France. It has since grown to more than 500 international locations.
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