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Dunkin’ Brands International president departsDunkin’ Brands International president departs

Neal Yanofsky will leave a position created when he took the job in May

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

September 23, 2011

1 Min Read
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Bret Thorn

Neal Yanofsky is leaving his post as president of Dunkin’ Brands Inc.’s international division, a position that was created when he took the job on May 2.

The parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins said in a release that it had “reached a mutual agreement that Mr. Yanofsky will be leaving the company.”

Dunkin’ said it is currently seeking a replacement for Yanofsky.

In the meantime, chief executive Nigel Travis will assume responsibility for Dunkin’ Donuts International, and chief financial officer Neil Moses will lead Baskin-Robbins International.

The company also said that chief global marketing and innovation officer John Costello would be directly responsible for worldwide marketing and innovation for both brands. Paul Reynish has been promoted to chief marketing officer for Dunkin’ Brands International and will report directly to Costello, the company said.

Travis said the company remained on track to add between 450 and 500 new Dunkin’ Brands locations outside of the United States this year.

“By consolidating our worldwide marketing and product innovation efforts under John's leadership, we are better positioned to leverage resources, take advantage of global best practices and deliver even more powerful brand messaging in each of the 56 countries where we operate," he said.

Yanofsky served for five years as president of Panera Bread and was chief executive of Generation Mobile, a wireless product retailer.

Dunkin’ Brands Inc. operates more than 16,000 Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurants worldwide.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
 

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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