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Five top executives from some of the nation’s most successful foodservice brands have been selected by Nation’s Restaurant News as the 2016 Golden Chain Award winners.
The best-in-class award celebrates industry veterans for their outstanding leadership, solid company performance and dedication to giving back. This year’s winners are: Paul Brown, CEO of Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc.; Greg Flynn, CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group LP; Guillermo Perales, president and CEO of Sun Holdings Inc.; Gene Lee, president and CEO of Darden Restaurants Inc.; and Kevin Miles, president and CEO of Zoe's Kitchen Inc.
And in a separate award, Sally Smith, CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., has been named this year’s winner of the Norman Brinker Award, which spotlights restaurant executives who consistently mentor and inspire future leaders.
The award winners will be honored during the annual Industry Awards Gala, sponsored by Avocados from Mexico at this year’s MUFSO conference in Dallas, which is scheduled for Oct. 23-25 at the Hyatt Regency Reunion. The conference is presented by Penton Restaurant Group, which includes NRN, Restaurant Hospitality and Food Management.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s winning class.
The former president of brands and commercial services for Hilton Worldwide, Paul Brown was named CEO of Atlanta-based Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. in 2013. Since then, the company's 3,300-unit chain Arby's has been a quick-service standout known for clever meat-focused marketing schemes, including a tongue-in-cheek Vegetarian Support Program, and consistently positive same-store sales.
In fiscal 2015, Arby’s grew U.S. systemwide sales by nearly 9 percent to $3.5 billion, according to the latest NRN Top 100 report. Arby’s was acquired by Roark Capital in 2011.
Flynn, founder, chair and CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group LP and Flynn Properties Inc., heads the largest franchise operation in the U.S.
The restaurant group includes more than 790 franchised Applebee’s, Taco Bell and Panera Bread restaurants with $1.5 billion in revenue in 2015. The company employs about 39,000 people in 29 states. Panera Bread is a fairly new addition to Flynn’s portfolio, added in 2015. At the time, the group was the bakery-café brand’s first new franchise operator in a decade.
Another of the nation’s largest franchise operators is Guillermo Perales, president and CEO of Dallas-based Sun Holdings Inc., and operator of more than 700 Burger King, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Arby’s, CiCi’s Pizza, Golden Corral and Krispy Kreme units. The company also operates 10 restaurants in various airports, as well as T-Mobile and GNC stores.
Perales founded Sun Holdings in 1997 with a single Golden Corral location. The company now employs more than 14,000 employees under the eight brands.
Gene Lee served as interim CEO for Darden Restaurants Inc. for about six months before he was officially named president and CEO in February 2015. He had been with the Orlando, Fla.-based parent to Olive Garden and six other brands since 2007, when Darden acquired Rare Hospitality International, where he was president and chief operating officer.
Lee came to the helm at Darden after a much-publicized proxy fight by activist investors who pushed for detailed change, from improvements to Olive Garden’s breadsticks to the sale of real estate. Lee has put the company back on course, with same-store sales climbing in recent quarters. Systemwide domestic sales in 2015 topped $6.9 billion.
The Plano, Texas-based Zoe’s Kitchen Inc. reported a nearly 32 percent increase in revenue in fiscal 2015, with same-store sales up for the year by 6.3 percent. Within the NRN Second 100 universe, the company's chain Zoës Kitchen was the fourth fastest growing in 2015.
Since its initial-public offering in 2014, the company has been a Wall Street favorite with Zoës Kitchen’s healthful, Mediterranean-flavored menu and recent emphasis on its growing catering and to-go business.
Kevin Miles joined Zoe’s Kitchen three years before he was named president and CEO in October 2012. In an interview earlier this year, Miles attributed Zoës' success to its mission of “delivering goodness from the inside out” by offering great food that employees can get excited about serving.
Sally Smith, president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., is the 2016 Norman Brinker award winner.
The annual Norman Award was created six years ago to recognize restaurant executives for their extraordinary leadership skills and ability to inspire and mentor future leaders, as epitomized by Norman Brinker, the industry icon who died in 2009.
Buffalo Wild Wings grew systemwide domestic sales by nearly 20 percent in 2015 to $3.6 billion. In addition to the core wings and sports bar-focused casual dining brand, the Minneapolis-based company has also invested in franchise brands R Taco and PizzaRev.
Smith has served as president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings since July 1996, and also serves on the board of the National Restaurant Association and Alerus Financial Corporation.
Past year's winners include Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc.; Patrick Doyle, president and CEO at Domino’s Pizza Inc.; Jon L. Luther, former chief executive and chairman of Dunkin' Brands; Richard L. Federico, chairman of P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc.; Philip J. Hickey Jr., former chairman of Miller’s Ale House Inc.; and Doug Brooks, former chairman, president and chief executive of Brinker International.
