BurgerFi names Jim Esposito COOBurgerFi names Jim Esposito COO

BurgerFi International Inc. has hired Jim Esposito as chief operating officer, the company announced Monday.

The Palm Beach, Fla.-based fast-casual brand said Esposito succeeds Nick Raucci in the operations position. Raucci has left the company, a spokesperson said.

Esposito has worked with such limited-service restaurant companies as Burger King, Panera Bread and Papa Gino’s.

“Jim Esposito built his career around successfully managing people and processes for high-quality organizations in very competitive and fast-paced environments and has achieved tremendous success,” said Ophir Sternberg, BurgerFi’s executive chairman, in a statement. “Esposito’s industry experience and positive track record with food-centric and publicly traded companies made him an exceptional candidate as COO.”

Esposito most recently served as senior vice president of operations at Planet Fitness.

“Jim Esposito has a strong record of delivering rapid business results while positioning franchised and corporate-owned businesses to greater levels of profitability and operational efficiencies,” said Julio Ramirez, BurgerFi CEO.

Prior to joining Planet Fitness, Esposito worked with Panera Bread and served as chief operating officer at Papa Gino’s.

Esposito said, “I am committed to building upon BurgerFi’s dedicated employee base, great operations and superior products to consistently deliver the best burger and overall exceptional guest experience at every franchise and company-owned restaurant, which will further fuel the 30% projected growth for 2021.”

Related:Opes Acquisition Corp. shareholders agree to buy BurgerFi International

BurgerFi, founded in 2011, has about 125 restaurants domestically and internationally.

Publicly traded Opes Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company, completed its purchase of BurgerFi in December.

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