Sponsored By

Dunkin’ Donuts US names Scott Murphy COODunkin’ Donuts US names Scott Murphy COO

Rick Colón fills new position as SVP of operations and development

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

January 9, 2018

1 Min Read
Nation's Restaurant News logo in a gray background | Nation's Restaurant News

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. has promoted Scott Murphy to chief operating officer of Dunkin’ Donuts U.S., the parent company said Monday. Previously, he was senior vice president of operations for the U.S. and Canada.

Murphy will continue to report to Dunkin’ Donuts U.S. president David Hoffmann.

The Canton, Mass.-based company has also moved responsibility for restaurant development and construction to Hoffman’s operations team and created a new position, senior vice president of operations and development, for Dunkin’ Donuts U.S. Rick Colón has been named to the position.

Colón is a veteran of McDonald’s Corp., most recently serving as South Zone president, with responsibility for 4,000 restaurants.

“Scott and Rick are innovative, inspirational leaders who understand every aspect of the restaurant industry, including most importantly driving operational excellence, people development and franchisee profitability,” Hoffmann said in a statement. “Each has a unique blend of store operations and general management experience, and both are eminently qualified to help us capitalize on our tremendous growth opportunities. I am confident that in their new roles they will enable us to continue to better support our franchisees, better serve our guests and accelerate the development of Dunkin' Donuts restaurants as we push to become the country's leading beverage-led, on-the-go brand.” 

As of the end of 2016, Dunkin’ Donuts had 8,828 locations in the U.S., all franchised, an increase of about 400 units from the previous year, according to NRN’s Top 100 report. In its announcement of Murphy’s promotion, Dunkin’ Brands said it aims to reach 18,000 units nationwide. By comparison, Starbucks had 13,172 domestic locations at the end of 2016.

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

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.