Dunkin's New CEO Is McDonald's Alumnus -- WSJ

By Austen Hufford and Julie Jargon 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 12, 2018).

The owner of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins said Chief Executive Nigel Travis is ending a more than nine-year tenure during which he brought the company public and extended the domestic and international reach of its brands.

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. on Wednesday named David Hoffmann as its new CEO, with Mr. Travis moving to the role of executive chairman. Mr. Travis, 68 years old, said Mr. Hoffmann was hired from McDonald's Corp. in 2016 with an eye toward making him the company's next leader. Mr. Travis said his successor "passed every hurdle we gave him."

During Mr. Travis's tenure as CEO, a job he took in 2009, the Canton, Mass.-based company entered 25 international markets and added almost 6,000 restaurants globally. At the end of last year, the company had 11,701 locations in the U.S. and 8,819 abroad.

The outgoing CEO also launched the company's consumer packaged-goods line. The company said in its most recent annual report that the top-selling K-Cup pod product nationally in 2017 was Dunkin'-branded. K-Cups are single-serving coffee pods used in Keurig machines.

Dunkin' said Mr. Travis as executive chairman will focus on the continued development of the company's international businesses.

Mr. Hoffmann, 50, joined the company in October 2016 as president of Dunkin' Donuts U.S. He was also in charge of global franchising and store development for both the ice cream and coffee brands.

Mr. Hoffmann, who said he has spent a lot of time visiting franchisees, has repositioned Dunkin' Donuts to focus more on beverages than food, with an emphasis on coffee to go. He led a major menu simplification effort at the chain in order to reduce kitchen complexity and boost profits.

During his time at Dunkin', it turned to automation to perform less-desirable tasks in an effort to improve employee retention in a tight labor market.

Mr. Hoffmann also said he pushed the chain to boost its afternoon business by testing a new afternoon snack menu with $2 items designed to pair with coffee. More recently, he helped launch Dunkin's first national value menu in many years and promoted menu innovation with new products like donut fries.

Before joining Dunkin', Mr. Hoffmann spent 22 years with McDonald's, where he most recently was in charge of high-growth markets, including China, South Korea, Russia and several European countries.

In July 2011, Dunkin' priced its initial public offering at $19 a share. Shares edged higher to $71.40 on Wednesday, representing a 30% rise over the last 12 months. Prior to joining Dunkin', Mr. Travis was CEO of pizza chain Papa John's International Inc. and, before that, chief operating officer of movie-rental company Blockbuster Inc.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail] and Julie Jargon at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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