Former Chipotle executive Jason Cochran has joined American West Restaurant Group as chief executive officer. AWRG is a large Pizza Hut franchisee.
Hatco Corp. has acquired American Range, a manufacturer of commercial and residential cooking equipment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tech24 acquired TEK Express, a service agent serving the New York City market working on commercial cooking and refrigeration equipment.
Longtime company executive Rusty Bills was promoted to chief operating officer for Wienerschnitzel, a California-based hot dog chain. Bills succeeds J.R. Galardi, who was promoted to president and chief executive officer for Wienerschnitzel in February.
The National Restaurant Association presented the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Leader to Dr. Al Baroudi, MS, Ph.D., CFS, vice president of food safety and quality assurance for The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated.
Hoshizaki America hired Daryl Erbs to fill the newly created role of vice president of innovation and Scott Meyer to serve as vice president of sales for the U.S. and Canada.
Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment introduced Mario Centola as executive vice president and chief operating officer of international operations and Chuck E. Cheese worldwide franchise development.
Another week, another service agent is acquired. Private equity-backed Tech24 has purchased 1st Source Restaurant Services, a Lewisville, Texas-based provider of planned maintenance and installation for foodservice, refrigeration equipment, HVAC and plumbing.
Refrigerated Solutions Group tapped David Shirk to serve as strategic account manager.
Todd Boulé was appointed vice president of sales, Convotherm U.S., which is a manufacturer of combi ovens and part of Welbilt.
Edlund promoted David Sebastianelli to senior vice president of international sales and marketing for the Vermont-based foodservice equipment manufacturer. He previously served as Edlund’s vice president of sales and marketing.
Velvet Taco tapped Michael Pereira to fill the newly created position of chief operating officer.
Quick-service-restaurant industry veteran Mark Kocer was named chief operating officer for Taco John’s, a chain with nearly 400 restaurants spanning 22 states.
The spate of acquisitions among companies servicing foodservice equipment continued with Tech24’s purchase of Allied Service Group. This marks the third acquisition by Tech24, which is backed by private equity firm HCI Partners, in the last month.
C&T Design and Equipment Company, an Indianapolis-based foodservice equipment and supplies dealer, has acquired the assets of JME Hospitality Marketing, LLC, a foodservice design consultant.
Welbilt made updates to its sales and marketing team at its Frymaster, Kolpak and Merrychef lines.
Christopher Heina, president of Cobblestone Ovens, passed away on Oct. 2, 2022. He was 48 years old.
Middleby operating companies Jade Range and Beech Ovens, commonly referred to as Jade-Beech, made a series of updates to its leadership team, including hiring former Wood Stone executives Kurt Eickmeyer and Phil Eaton. Jade-Beech also promoted two longtime employees.
The Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association recognized the “achievements of its distributor and manufacturer members” with the organization’s annual Gold Awards program. FEDA also updated its board of directors, which included the introduction of Dave Stafford as chairman of the board.
Avanti Restaurant Solutions added Chris Thompson as a designer for the California-based foodservice equipment dealer.
