Restaurant Brands International Inc. has named Sami Siddiqui as president of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for the Americas, the company said Tuesday.
The Toronto-based company, which also owns Burger King and Tim Hortons, said Siddiqui succeeds Felipe Athayde, who is leaving RBI for a role outside the quick-service industry.
Siddiqui most recently served as president of Asia-Pacific for RBI, leading the growth of Popeyes, Burger King and Tim Hortons throughout the region, including introducing the Popeyes brand in China and the Philippines.
“Popeyes is a brand with a well-known heritage and more recently has demonstrated unprecedented growth through exceptional menu innovation in our iconic chicken sandwich,” said José Cil, RBI’s CEO, in a statement. “Sami has an excellent track record working with our franchisees to drive our brand and restaurant expansion."
The company said Siddiqui and Athayde will work together to transition the role throughout September.
Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen ranked No. 19 among restaurant brands in U.S. systemwide sales in the most recent Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200. Domestic sales were $3.8 billion for the fiscal year ended December 2019, up from $3.2 billion in the preceding year.
Restaurant Brands International has more than 27,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories.
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