Del Taco Restaurants Inc. has promoted John Cappasola Jr. to the role of chief executive officer, replacing outgoing CEO Paul Murphy in what is described as a planned succession, the company said Tuesday.
Murphy, who is permanently relocating to Denver, said he will resign on July 7 and will turn over the reigns to Cappasola, who is currently Del Taco’s president and chief brand officer.
Cappasola, who will also replace Murphy on the board of directors, has been in senior leadership at Del Taco since 2008. He has served as chief brand officer since 2011 and was named president in January this year.
He served previously as the Lake Forest, Calif.-based chain’s executive vice president, leading brand strategy, operations, marketing, menu development and culinary innovation, including the “Un-Freshing Believable” marketing campaign focusing on the 550-unit chain’s made-from-scratch menu.
“John is a dynamic, people-oriented brand leader who understands strategy and driving business results,” said Lawrence Levy, chair of Del Taco’s board, in a statement.
“John was instrumental in the development of our successful combined solutions strategy that has established a solid foundation for the brand and produced some of the top results in the industry over the past five years.”
Del Taco has been one of the top-performing quick-service concepts in the industry, reaching 14 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth in the first quarter this year.
Levy also thanked Murphy for his contributions to Del Taco and wished him the best.
Murphy said he has been working with Cappasola to prepare for the transition and Del Taco’s next phase of growth.
“It has been my privilege and honor to be part of Del Taco for the past eight years, and I am confident in the strong team we have assembled to execute on the growing opportunity ahead of this beloved brand,” said Murphy. “John will continue to be a driving force pushing the brand to evolve to meet ever-changing consumer needs and ensuring that our operations teams are set up to successfully deliver on that brand promise.”
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