Milling & Baking News - May 30, 2023 - 30

TUES | 05 30 2023
People
Panera Brands promotes Jose
Dueñas to chief executive
ST. LOUIS - Panera Brands, Inc., which
includes Panera Bread, Einstein Bros.
Bagels and Caribou Coffee, has named
Jose Alberto Dueñas as its next chief
executive officer. He will succeed Niren
Chaudhary, who will become chairman
of Panera Brands, effective July 1.
Mr. Dueñas has been president
and CEO of Einstein
Bros. Bagels since 2019. Over
the past four years he has
led a strategic transformation
by focusing the business
on winning breakfast
and creating a culture that
champions the general managers
as the organization's
most important leaders,
according to Panera Brands.
In addition, he played a key role in executing
a major operating model simplification
that materially improved the guest experience
and expanded digital access to the
brands, resulting in improvements in unitlevel
economics and margin expansion.
Dueñas
Prior to joining Einstein, Mr. Dueñas
was chief brand officer at Sonic Drive-In
and earlier held leadership positions at
Darden Restaurants.
" I'm truly honored to have the opportunity
to lead the phenomenal group of people
at Panera Brands and be part of what is
undoubtedly one of the most
iconic brands in food, " Mr.
Dueñas said. " I believe that
with this incredibly dedicated
team and our great franchisee
partners we can continue
to deliver a best-in-class guest
experience, increase our positive
impact in the communities
we serve and accelerate
key growth-driving initiatives
to prepare the company
for a future public listing. "
Mr. Chaudhary will step aside after
serving as CEO for the past four years.
During that time Panera Brands said it
has strengthened its leadership in the
fast-casual segment by expanding its
Rubicon Bakers hires Seb Siethoff
as chief executive officer
RICHMOND, CALIF. - Sebastian " Seb "
Siethoff has been named chief executive
officer of Rubicon Bakers, a sweet goods
maker that is part of the Trive Capital portfolio.
He succeeds Andrew Stoloff and Leslie
Crary, who purchased the company in 2009.
Mr. Siethoff most recently was general
manager of Ball Corp. for nearly three
years. Earlier, he was head of marketing
and vice president of global bakery products
at CSM Bakery Solutions. He also
has worked as a senior director of global
foodservice development and director of
gum and mints innovation in North America
at Mars, as well as global marketing
30 MILLING & BAKING NEWS
director at McDonald's. Additional roles
have included senior marketing manager
at Wm Wrigley Jr. Co., associate marketing
manager of haircare at Unilever and junior
marketing manager of baby care at J&J.
" Seb brings a great blend
of operational and marketing
experience to Rubicon in the
retail, foodservice and e-commerce
channels, " Mr. Stoloff
said. " He knows the baking
space as well as our customers
and distributors from his prior
experiences, which will allow
him to hit the ground running. "
Siethoff
bakingbusiness.com
leading digital capabilities, which today
account for 53% of total sales at Panera
Bread, while increasing its loyalty base
to 53 million members and launching an
innovative loyalty subscription model that
has resulted in 25% of all Panera transactions
now coming from Unlimited Sip Club
members. Panera also increased its pace of
innovation, strengthened franchisee partnerships
and led the creation of a strong,
people-first culture.
Prior to Panera, Mr. Chaudhary was
chief operating officer and president of
Krispy Kreme International. Before that he
spent 23 years with Yum! Brands, Inc. in a
variety of roles.
In addition to Mr. Dueñas and Mr. Chaudhary
taking on new roles, Panera said
Patrick Grismer will become chairman
of the Audit Committee. Mr. Grismer is an
independent member of Panera's board of
directors and a former chief financial officer
at Starbucks. He also has worked as CFO
of Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Yum! Brands.
Panera Brands is one of the world's largest
fast-casual restaurant platforms, with
3,852 locations and 120,000 employees,
including franchisees, across 11 countries.
JAB Holding Co. formed the business in
August 2021 as a combination of Panera
Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros.
Bagels. Panera said it is continuing to pursue
a proposed initial public offering, a
strategy it first announced in late 2021. MBN
Mr. Stoloff and Ms. Crary will continue
as members of the board of Rubicon.
Chris Zugaro, partner at Trive Capital,
added, " This is an exciting time for Rubicon
Bakers. Andrew and Leslie have led this
business from its infancy to a significant
part of the retail baking space. Having a
CEO with Seb's experience will allow Rubicon
to navigate its next phase of growth. "
Rubicon Bakers was
founded in 1993 with a mission
to provide employment
to those who have been
incarcerated, those without
housing or recently recovered
from substance abuse.
In conjunction with this
mission, the bakery is also a
Certified B Corp. MBN
PANERA BRANDS AND RUBICON BAKERS
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Milling & Baking News - May 30, 2023

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