José Alberto Dueñas was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Panera Brands and Panera Bread in May 2023. Panera Brands is one of the world’s largest fast casual restaurant companies with nearly 4,000 locations in 10 countries and is comprised of Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros Bagels.

Prior to joining Panera, José was President and CEO of Einstein Bros. Bagels, which included leadership of regional bagel brands Manhattan Bagel, Bruegger’s Bagels and Noah’s Bagels. Since his hiring in 2019, José led a strategic transformation by focusing the business on winning breakfast and creating a culture that champions the General Managers as the organization’s most important leaders. The company executed a major operating model simplification that materially improved the guest experience and rapidly expanded digital access to the brands, resulting in significant improvements in unit-level economics and overall margin expansion.

José previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer for Sonic Franchising, LLC and Sonic Industries Services, Inc. in Oklahoma City from 2017-2018. He also was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Olive Garden, Darden Restaurant Inc. from 2014-2017 and was Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing from 2012-2014.

José started his career in consumer packaged goods, having held several progressive positions with the Kellogg Company in Latin America and US from 1995-2012, the most recent of which was Vice President and General Manager of their Pop Tarts business. 

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