CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc., parent to Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, has combined restaurant operations and supply chain functions and promoted John Dunion, a 25-year company veteran to oversee them as chief operating officer, the company said Tuesday.
The Franklin, Tenn.-based restaurant company said “the new structure drives focus on brand operations, accountability, ownership and execution across the U.S. business.”
Dunion’s promotion was accompanied by two others: Brian Cassidy was promoted to senior vice president for Carl’s Jr. operations and Todd Huetinck was promoted to senior vice president for supply chain.
“John is an excellent leader with a penchant for team building and moxie for driving successful business outcomes,” said Ned Lyerly, CKE CEO, in a statement. “John knows our business inside and out, has an excellent rapport with our franchisees and will continue to elevate operational excellence throughout the CKE system.”
Dunion most recently served as CKE’s chief supply chain officer. He joined the company in 1996 as vice president of purchasing and was promoted to senior vice president of purchasing two years later. Dunion has held progressive management roles in the company, including chief administrative officer.
Before joining CKE, Dunion held management roles at Unigate Restaurants, Jack in the Box and Taco Bell Corp.
“I look forward to maximizing my operational discipline and supply chain expertise to support the company’s future growth,” Dunion said.
Among the other promotions, Cassidy will oversee both company and franchise operations for the Carl’s Jr. brand. Prior to joining CKE in 2017 as vice president of operation, Cassidy owned and operated his own restaurant and led operations for some of the top quick-service brands.
Huetinck started his career at CKE in 2006 as a senior food technologist and has held progressive management positions in the company.
CKE Restaurants Holdings owns both Carl’s Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee’s Restaurants LLC with more than 3,800 franchised and company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 43 foreign countries and U.S. territories.
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