Dive Brief:
- Panera Bread has hired Earl Ellis as chief financial officer, effective immediately, the company said Monday in a press release.
- Ellis will report to CEO Paul Carbone, who was promoted from CFO to CEO earlier this year. Ellis succeeds Megan Mikolaichik, who served as interim CFO since Carbone’s transition in January.
- Ellis is the latest C-suite hire at Panera following the appointment of Nikka Copeland in June to a newly created position of senior vice president for the office of transformation and strategy, and the February appointment of CIO Santhosh Kumar.
Dive Insight:
Ellis, who has roughly three decades of financial experience, will help Panera accelerate its plan to boost its core business, improve the guest experience and “drive long-term, profitable growth,” Carbone said in a statement.
“[Ellis] has scaled complex, multi-brand organizations, led successful transformations, and developed high-performing teams,” Carbone said.
Ellis previously worked at ABM Industries, a Fortune 500 facility service company, as EVP and CFO for nearly five years, according to his LinkedIn profile. While at this company, he oversaw global finance, accounting, investor relations and procurement, according to the press release.
He also helped with ABM’s strategic plan, executing on a multiyear transformation, which included enterprise resource planning modernization, and supported growth through mergers and acquisitions and capital markets initiatives, according to the press release.
Ellis’s résumé also includes finance leadership positions at Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Campbell Soup Company, Kraft Foods and Coca-Cola.
Panera Bread has undergone various strategic shifts in the past year, including shuttering its dough facilities and transitioning to par-baked bread. The chain is also testing four premium drinks in roughly 65 locations through Jan. 6. Last year, Panera overhauled its menu across multiple categories and added breakfast and pastry items.
