Quick-service slider chain White Castle is one of the few major restaurant chains still owned by its founding family. For the first time this month, the company announced the promotion of Anthony Joseph from chief administrative officer and general counsel to president — the first non-family member to hold this position at White Castle.
For CEO and fourth generation Ingram family leader, Lisa Ingram, the decision to bring in an outside perspective was a practical one: there was simply no one in the fifth generation at this time who was ready to take on the reins of president.
“As a family business, we spend s lot of time focusing on the long-term,” Ingram told Nation’s Restaurant News. “We didn’t have anyone yet in the fifth generation involved in the business full-time, and I certainly wanted to have an emergency succession plan in place if something were to happen to me. I also wanted to think about what's in the best interest of the company in the long run.”
This is not the first time White Castle has brought in leadership from outside its founding family. The company brought in an external COO named Jeff Harper about 10 years ago. In his new role, Joseph will take on more of the day-to-day operations, while Ingram will remain in her roles as CEO and board chair.
“One of the things that I always say is that I don't want to be the smartest person in the room, so having Anthony take on the president role just made a lot of sense,” she said. “It was a good time to transition some of my responsibilities to him so he can continue to help me and the rest of the leadership team grow the brand.”
Joseph began his career at a law firm out of law school, but spent the majority of his career working for the family-owned food and beverage operator, Concessions International, where he held multiple leadership positions for 16 years. He has worked at White Castle since 2016.
“We're very excited about the future,” Joseph said. “We think about the challenges that our industry is facing, there are some serious headwinds. But [being a family-owned business] we think we've got some real built-in advantages in terms of the brand equity and strength of our people. But we do have to navigate the challenges that are facing our industry and economy right now.”
Although White Castle is expanding its leadership roles to non-family members, Ingram said that she believes the family ownership (and non-franchise model) is responsible for much of the company’s success.
“That’s our secret sauce,” Ingram said. “When my great-grandfather founded the company, a lot of competitors were going in the direction of franchising. For our brand, we really want to be able to control the experience with the team member and the customer…. We're not as large as other competitors in our space, but we feel like we create a unique connection with our customers.”
For 2025, the goals moving forward are to focus on development and innovation. White Castle will continue expanding in the Arizona and Florida markets and will also continue to grow innovation in the loyalty app, in the grocery store aisle, and on the restaurant menu, like the new French Toast slider sandwich as part of the company’s new breakfast menu.
As the company navigates challenges facing most operators in the industry these days, Joseph said it is more crucial than ever to create a great working environment for the employee.
“We do recognize that the last few years have been pretty volatile,” he said. “We’re focusing a lot internally on making sure we maintain the right environment for our team members. We're looking at new benefits plans, and we want to update administrative systems. There’s a lot of work going on as we adjust to this new normal with our people out front.”
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