Emerging coffeehouse chain Aroma Joe’s promoted Dave Tucci to president and eliminated the CEO position. The outgoing chief executive Loren Goodridge will remain an advisor and focus on development.

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Pizza Hut appointed Carl Loredo as president of U.S. business. The former global chief marketing officer for Wendy’s officially joined the restaurant company June 3.

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Portillo’s named Nick Scarpino as CMO and Keith Correia as chief information officer. The Chicago-based restaurant brand named its first marketing chief and CIO last month as it expands its executive team.

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David Deno announced he will retire as CEO at Outback Steakhouse parent Bloomin’ Brands. Deno will remain in the role until a successor is named while the board conducts a search.

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Inspire Brands named Yasir Anwar chief technology officer. The former CTO of Williams-Sonoma and Macy’s now reports directly to Inspire Brands’ CEO Paul Brown.

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Sbarro named former Restaurant Brands International executive Mario Bojorquez as its president, North America. Bojorquez most recently served as head of Asia-Pacific operations for Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons, and Firehouse Subs.

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Pizza Hut named a new global chief brand officer and chief marketing officer. Kalen Thornton joined the company as global chief brand officer from PepsiCo and Melissa Friebe became Pizza Hut’s CMO after working at Yum Brands’ sister brand Taco Bell.

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CEC Entertainment named Scott Drake as its new CFO. The restaurant company that owns Chuck E. cheese and Peter Piper Pizza also appointed three other executives to its leadership team: David Deck as EVP, general counsel and chief compliance officer; Antonio Barron as VP of purchasing and games; and Justin Lee as VP, construction, design and facilities.

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Topgolf named Maryam Morse its chief people officer. Morse joined the eatertainment concept from Andrews Distributing.

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Wendy’s promoted two executives into dedicated leadership roles. Former president international and chief development officer Abigail Pringle was named to the new role of U.S. president and E.J. Wunsch became president international.

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Heather McCoy and Ryan Koon were added to the KFC U.S. C-suite as chief people officer and chief development officer, respectively. KFC U.S. has made several changes to its leadership team throughout the past two years as the restaurant chain struggles through sales and unit count declines.

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Scott Taylor was named CEO of the newly created Cherry Bounce Hospitality group. The former Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux CEO will now head the new full-service restaurant arm of Hargett Hunter.

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Smashburger announced Thomas Prather as its new CMO. Before joining Smashburger, Prather held multiple branding and marketing leadership roles at Starbucks.

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Portillo’s COO Derrick Pratt is leaving the company June 30 following a brief transition period. Pratt has been with Portillo’s since 2020 and was previously vice president of operations at Starbucks and McDonald’s.

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José Andrés Group named Sam Bakhshandehpour its global CEO. The restaurant group also named Rick Billings chief culinary officer and Carles Tejedor chief creative officer.

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