Dive Brief:
- GoTo Foods has hired Biplav Misra as its first chief digital officer and Tatiana Lambert as its new chief development officer, the company said in a Monday press release.
- The new hires are part of the company's strategy to accelerate growth by enhancing its customer service and improving franchisee profitability and unit-level economics across the portfolio.
- The appointments come about four months after GoTo Foods hired Omer Gajial, a former Albertsons executive, as its CEO. Since then, the restaurant company also hired a new chief financial officer and chief growth officer.
Dive Insight:
Both executives will likely help support GoTo Foods’ ambitious growth plans. Last year, the company signed commitments to develop over 1,400 franchised units globally. Those units alone would boost the company’s total unit count from roughly 7,300 as of early 2026 to over 8,700 over time, assuming no significant closures during that time frame.
“As GoTo Foods enters its next phase, our priority is clear: disciplined growth that enhances the guest experience, strengthens franchisee returns and delivers stronger unit-level economics across the portfolio,” Gajial said. “[Misra] and [Lambert] bring the leadership to sharpen our digital execution and development strategy, fundamentally strengthening how we grow and creating durable value for our guests, franchisees and brands.”
Lambert will oversee GoTo Foods’ development strategy across its portfolio, emphasizing franchisee returns and using disciplined growth to improve unit-level economics, the press release said. She will work with brand leadership to drive net unit growth as well. She will focus on expanding in the correct markets and locations for the relevant concepts and partnering with franchisees that can deliver sustainable and long-term growth.
Previously, she worked as vice president and U.S. chief development officer at Wendy’s, focusing on real estate and franchise development, as well as design and construction, franchise recruitment and portfolio optimization. Prior to that post, she worked at Yum Brands in senior U.S. and global development positions for KFC and Pizza Hut. She has over 20 years of real estate development and growth strategy experience.
Misra previously worked at Albertsons as a strategy and transformation leader, where he oversaw digital commerce and channel growth across catering, business-to-business delivery and third-party market platforms, according to the press release. He also directed an enterprise-wide transformation that included large-scale automation and a buildout of its Global Capacity Center. His time at Albertsons overlapped with Gajial’s time at the grocery chain. He also spent nearly a decade at Amazon.
In his new role, Misra will build GoTo Foods’ digital capabilities across off-premise, catering and digital channels, focusing on driving guest traffic, boosting average check size and improving four-wall economics. He will create the digital infrastructure, team and operating model needed to scale capabilities across all seven brands at GoTo Foods.
GoTo Foods previously said that this year it was focused on personalizing loyalty. The company also will work to strengthen its multi-channel digital foundation and leverage artificial intelligence to support its long-term system health. All of these priorities are likely areas of focus for Misra.
