On Monday, better burger chain Smashburger announced a handful of new leadership positions including the promotion of Carl Bachmann to president of the brand. Additionally, Scott Johnson joined Smashburger as VP and head of marketing, and Charlie Sayre joined the brand as VP and head of finance.
"We are very excited to see Smashburger reach its full potential with this new leadership team now steering the company," said Ernesto Tanmantiong, CEO of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), in a statement. Philippines-based JFC, Asia's largest restaurant operator, acquired the Denver-based brand in December.
Bachmann has worked for Smashburger for two and a half years most recently as COO. He came to the brand after managing restaurant chains like Bertucci's and Ruby Tuesday. Johnson is a restaurant veteran with over twenty years of experience at the likes of Outback Steakhouse, Bravo Restaurant Group and most recently BurgerFi. Sayre had worked as a financial and investment analyst with World Wrestling Entertainment and Mooreland Partners, an investment bank.
The new leadership team will report to Rowel Vijandre, the recently appointed president and country business group head of JFC North America. Rowel was previously president of Chowking, one of the biggest restaurant chains owned by JFC.
"With the leadership and industry experience of Carl, Scott and Charlie, and the rest of the team working together, we are confident that Smashburger will move closer towards achieving its goal of becoming the #1 fast-casual better burger brand in North America," said Vijandre, in the statement.
Smashburger currently has 340 corporate and franchise restaurants. JFC operates 4,500 stores globally and has eight wholly owned brands including Jollibee, Chowking and Smashburger. JFC also has a stake in Tortas Frontera, the fast-casual Mexican concept created by Chicago restaurateur Rick Bayles.
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