The Society for Hospitality & Foodservice Management Foundation added Joe Esteves, director of retail for Sodexo, to its board of directors.
As it prepares for a growth spurt, Brixx Wood Fired Pizza + Craft Bar made a series of leadership changes, including the appointment of Scott Isaacs as president of the Southeastern restaurant chain.
Private equity funds managed by Blackstone will acquire Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a franchisor of fast-casual restaurants, from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. The deal is worth roughly $2 billion, per published reports.
Sammic added Tom O’Connor to its sales team serving as regional manager for its eastern territory.
Change is in the air at Tijuana Flats. In less than a week, the 91-unit fast-casual chain has filed for bankruptcy, closed 11 restaurants and gotten new owners. All of this comes on the heels of updating its menu and packaging.
Marco’s Pizza hired Kathleen Kennedy to serve as director of culinary innovation.
EQUIPEX, Fisher Manufacturing and RATIONAL all update their rep networks.
T&S Brass and Bronze Works updated four leadership positions.
Jill Connor was promoted to director of marketing for Marra Forni. She previously served as marketing manager for the Maryland-based manufacturer of commercial brick ovens.
Hoshizaki America promoted Sally Ray to vice president of marketing.
Commercial kitchen manufacturer Winston Foodservice hired Jania Tung to serve as a U.S. regional/international territory sales manager based in Texas.
Alto-Shaam promoted Kristina Bladecki to the role of manager of culinary for the Wisconsin-based foodservice equipment manufacturer.
Middleby Corp. is expanding Meghan Daro’s vice president of consultant services role to work more with international consultants.
T&S Brass and Bronze Works hired Kevin Herndon to serve as the regional sales manager for the West Coast and Tim Schmidt as the regional sales manager for the East Coast.
Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazine named food4VOLS the winner of its 2024 Kitchen Storage Makeover contest.
Pizza University hired Leo Spizzirri to serve as its director of education.
TGI Fridays' largest global franchisee, Hostmore plc, has agreed to acquire the iconic casual dining chain in an all-stock transaction. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024 and will provide TGI Fridays with “operational and financial flexibility, increased scale and capital,” the release notes.
CKE Restaurants Holdings updated the leadership of its Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s chains with several appointments.
Cannoli Kitchen Pizza named restaurant executive Andrew DiMatteo as its operations manager.
Chester's Chicken introduced Bill Rice as the quick-service chicken chain’s executive vice president. In this role, Rice heads up sales, operations and supply chain.
