Dive Brief:
- Restaurant Business International has promoted Peter Perdue to president of Popeyes, U.S. and Canada, succeeding Jeff Klein, who is leaving the company, according to a Tuesday press release.
- Nicolas Henrich has also been promoted to chief operating officer of Burger King U.S. and Canada, succeeding Perdue, who held the role for over two years, according to Perdue’s LinkedIn profile. Henrich most recently served as vice president and head of Burger King U.S. and Canada finance, according to his LinkedIn profile.
- The leadership changes come just days after the chain posted same-store sales growth of 3.2% at Burger King U.S. and a decline of 2% at Popeyes during the third quarter.
Dive Insight:
Both executives have been at RBI for over a decade, and Perdue played a significant role in Burger King’s Reclaim the Flame operations turnaround. His experience, which includes operations, franchising and finance, could help spark a similar turnaround at Popeyes.
“Popeyes has the best chicken in QSR, and Peter's mandate is to unlock the share gains we know we are capable of,” RBI CEO Josh Kobza said in a statement. “Peter has led an impressive turnaround in the operations of our Burger King system, and I look forward to bringing his leadership to Popeyes.”
Popeyes has had some success with recent limited- time offers like its Chicken Dippers, which attracted new guests, but repeat visits were below expectations, Kobza said last week during an earnings call. The company is in the process of reprioritizing its resources to better support franchisees and “focusing investments on restaurant and equipment upgrades that have the biggest impact ensuring that new units are opened exclusively with our top operators,” Kobza said.
Henrich also has extensive experience, holding senior roles at RBI in franchising, development, finance, strategy and supply chain since 2013. His experience will likely help Burger King maintain the momentum it has had with its turnaround plan, which includes restaurant remodels. The company expects 400 remodels to be completed this year. Redesigned restaurants typically see average restaurant sales of about $2 million, Kobza said.
"[Henrich] has been instrumental in strengthening our system and improving franchisee profitability,” Tom Curtis, president of Burger King U.S. and Canada, said in a statement. “As COO, he will continue driving operational excellence as a lead contributor to our long-term growth.”
