Chris Switzer Email & Phone Number

Texas, United States

Irving, Tx, Us

Led Laredo Taco Company (LTC), Raise the Roost, Speedy Cafe and other advanced foodservice concepts for the Restaurant / QSR business at 7-Eleven. Focused on leading the rapid national growth of 1,140+ QSR restaurants, building a robust pipeline of menu innovation & sales programming, developing innovative foodservice formats and designs, reducing supply chain costs and delivering all budgeted sales and profit goals for 7-Eleven. As the Director of Category Management, I have a $450MM category sales budget and lead 10 direct reports.HIGHLIGHTS:• Led growth initiative to aggressively expand Laredo Taco Company and Raise the Roost restaurants into 7-Eleven stores. Responsibilities included brand marketing, menu & culinary, development strategy, site selection, store design, financial modelling, supply chain and market entry planning.• Developed innovative new restaurant store designs that delivered an elevated customer experience and higher revenue.• Drove sales and profit growth for Restaurant & Advanced Foodservice categories.• Built strong restaurant brands that communicate our brand story and positioning – focused on Laredo Taco Company, Raise the Roost & Speedy Cafe restaurants.• Drove key strategic innovation projects, including building delivery only ghost kitchens, drive thru enabled restaurants and LTC + Roost dual restaurant stores.• Delivered cost reductions through distributor negotiations, product RFP's, menu value engineering and commodity cost management. Redesigned Restaurant supply chain to lower cost, maximize efficiencies and support future growth.

Irving, Tx, Us

Dallas, Tx, Us

Led Restaurant, Foodservice & Dispensed Beverages business with $350 million category sales budget and 6 direct reports. Drove category and marketing plans, brand positioning and standards, culinary development, capital projects and vendor negotiations. Managed all aspects of food supply chain and new product development. HIGHLIGHTS:• Delivered category profit growth despite challenging sales environment through lowering food costs, implementing new LTO promotional strategy, and collaborating with operations to improve foodservice production efficiency.• Developed new restaurant prototype design, driving higher sales, profits and efficiency. Piloted in 17 innovation stores.• Partnered with Marketing to launch new "power period" advertising campaign strategy, resulting in increased brand breakthrough, LTO sales and store traffic.• Partnered with key meat supplier to build 65K sq ft production facility to support our growth plans, saving $2 million in food costs and significantly improving product quality through state-of-the-art food safety features and robust R&D capabilities.• Spearheaded initiative to transform supply chain food safety program and standards, bringing in industry expertise to develop best practices. Resulted in improved supplier quality and enhanced internal processes.• Successfully led category management team transition during 7-Eleven acquisition.

Irving , Tx, Us

Managed 3 direct reports and $300M category budget. Focused on accelerating sales growth, improving process and leading rebranding initiatives. Trained top-talent category management team.HIGHLIGHTS:• Delivered 4.5% annual sales growth, exceeding both total merchandise and foodservice industry benchmarks. Optimized assortment and pricing, lowered costs, overhauled processes, and improved innovation speed to market.• Consolidated suppliers, renegotiated existing contracts, and leveraged scale to capture cost efficiencies and lower costs, resulting in 5% profit growth. Exceeded inflation benchmarks year over year.• Overhauled proprietary recipes, preparation guides, and menus for Laredo Taco Company restaurants for 2% sales increase.• Rebranded proprietary Café de la Casa coffee program with new packaging, higher quality coffee and cappuccino and elevated in-store experience, growing sales by 2.5% and lowering costs by 3%.

Irving , Tx, Us

Irving , Tx, Us

Master Of Business Administration (Mba), Marketing

Bachelor'S Degree, Marketing

Executive Development Program, Management

Executive Leadership Program, Leadership