US-based Carl's Jr. expands partnership with Beyond Meat

CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. (CKE) has announced the opening of the 400th Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Mexico, marking a significant milestone in the brand’s international expansion. Known for its signature menu offerings like chargrilled burgers, Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders, and Hand-Scooped Ice-Cream Shakes, Carl’s Jr. continues to strengthen its position in the region.  

The brand reports selling over 200,000 burgers daily across Mexico. It has gained traction through limited-time offerings, strategic partnerships, and high-profile promotions such as National Burger Day and Bisiesto Day, which draw substantial customer participation.  

Julio Sanchez, GM-Americas at CKE Restaurants said, “Mexico continues to be one of our top-performing markets. Carl’s Jr. Mexico’s success is due to the best-in-class experience we offer our guests throughout the country every day. With the opening of our 400th restaurant, we continue to deliver beautiful, modern restaurants and the best burgers in the business.”  

Globally, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s operate over 1,100 locations across more than 35 countries, with additional openings planned by the end of the year. The company is set to expand into the United Kingdom in early 2025, further extending its international footprint.  

Mike Woida, President of International at CKE said, “Carl’s Jr. made its debut in Mexico in 1991, and there’s been no looking back. With new markets in the works, continued growth in our existing countries, and burgers chargrilled to perfection, the future of our international business is bright. I can’t wait to see what the next 30 years will look like.”  

CKE's strategic focus on modern restaurant design, menu innovation, and global market growth underpins its expansion efforts as it continues to establish its presence in new regions. 

Parent company of Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s, CKE Restaurant Holdings, has appointed Justin Falciola as its chief technology and growth officer.

In this new role, Justin Falciola will align business goals with information technology, digital strategy and operations, as well as guide the implementation of new technologies and support the digital evolution of loyalty, first-party and third-party digital channels.

"We are excited to welcome Justin to the organization," said CKE Chief Executive Officer Max Wetzel. "As technology continues to shape and change the QSR industry, I am confident that his extensive record of success leading high-performing analytics, digital and IT teams will help both Carl's Jr. and Hardee's enable digital growth,” he added.

He comes to CKE from Papa John's International where he served as Chief Insights and Technology Officer since 2018. Prior to that, Falciola served in roles at Humana, Fifth Third Bank and JPMorgan Chase. Falciola received his bachelor's degree in information systems from Rutgers University.

Earlier this year, CKE Restaurants announced the separation of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brand and introduced a leadership structure with three teams, each led by a president driving execution of strategic growth plans. Advancing digital is a major focus of the company's growth strategy.

"It is an exciting time to be joining CKE Restaurants," said CKE Chief Technology & Growth Officer Justin Falciola. "I look forward to leveraging my experience to help Carl's Jr. and Hardee's reach their unique business goals, evolve the team and guest experience through technology and ultimately grow these two iconic brands,” he mentioned.

Together with its franchisees, Carl's Jr. operates more than 1,000 restaurants across the U.S. and has a presence in 24 countries worldwide. Hardees operates approximately 1,600 restaurants across the U.S. and 13 countries worldwide.

CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. (CKE), parent company of Carl's Jr.® and Hardee's®, is announcing the appointment of brand presidents for Carl's Jr., Hardee's and International.

Following the separation of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brand, the business approach includes a leadership structure with three teams, each led by a president driving execution of strategic growth plans. 

Mike Woida will continue to lead as International President, Chris Bode was named Hardee's USA President last fall, and Blake Devillier has joined CKE Restaurants as Carl's Jr. USA President. CKE will continue to leverage the global scale of the company to build industry's leading growth capabilities.

"I'm thrilled to have such exceptional leaders at the helm of our business. Their proven track records and strategic vision will be instrumental in unlocking the full potential of our brands. With a focus on dedicated brand growth plans and the leverage of CKE's global infrastructure, we're poised to achieve transformative results," said Max Wetzel, CEO, CKE.

Devillier joined CKE restaurants on April 1 and is a strategic executive with experience leading multi-site operations, fueling culture, growth, efficiency, and execution that drives breakout performance. 

He joins CKE from YUM! Brands, Inc., where he was senior vice president of field operations for Taco Bell. Prior to that, Blake spent more than 25 years at GAP, Inc., with roles at Banana Republic, Gap brand and Old Navy, including vice president of stores at Old Navy. Blake holds an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisiana.

"For years, Carl's Jr. has been synonymous with satisfying hunger for big, bold burgers with craveable flavors. I'm excited to leverage my experience to lead our teams and drive innovative strategies that will propel Carl's Jr. to even greater heights," said Blake Devillier, Carl's Jr. USA president.

Known around the world for its big, bold flavors, parent company of Carl's Jr.® CKE Restaurants Inc. and partner RSMG Holding LLC are celebrating the opening of the first Florida restaurant in Doral (5755 NW 87th Ave). In celebration of this moment, the restaurant will host a grand opening ceremony on March 12 from 6-7 p.m. ET. 

"Carl's Jr. and our guests are all about innovative, audacious flavors and live-out-loud, authentic moments, and we can't wait to be part of the energy and community in South Florida," said Vice President of Brand Marketing for Carl's Jr. Anthony Nguyen. "Thank you to our partners at RSMG – together, we made it happen, and we look forward to many more opportunities in the future." 

Carl's crave-worthy menu items include over-the-top, juicy charbroiled burgers, hand-breaded chicken tenders, hand-scooped shakes and indulgent breakfast burgers. Together with its franchisees, Carl's Jr. operates more than 1,000 restaurants across the U.S. and has a presence in 25 countries worldwide. 

"RSMG is looking to position Carl's Jr. as a market leader in South Florida," said Ron Santolaya, CEO and partner of RSMG. "We look forward to utilizing our values and creating a long-lasting relationship with the Doral and South Florida community that can continue to grow, and hopefully expand both domestically and internationally, over the upcoming years." 

The location was first announced in July 2023 and was followed by pre-opening celebrations, including dining events for local emergency responders.  

Santolaya, who has more than 40 years of experience in the industry, is no stranger to the Carl's Jr. brand. For 10 years, he served in corporate international operations based in Anaheim, CA, before holding executive leadership positions with Mexico and Chile-based international franchise groups. Now he has his own franchise group with partners Claudio Fernandez and Milko Grbic – who both serve as managing director and partner.  

Focused on a culture of respect, collaboration and teamwork, RSMG will employ more than 40 restaurant team members plus management at the 2,500 sq. ft., 42-seat Doral restaurant. 

Cybiz has already raised $2 Million through Private Equity investors and aims to raise $20 Million in tranches for the company’s goal to expand the Carl’s Jr brand to 100 restaurants. Early stage investors include- Now Foods, the Delhi based investment firm which also has equity positions in franchises of Boombox Café and Café OTB and QSR franchises in international markets.

Now Foods provides a unique combination of capital, strategy & operational expertise through its well networked and highly experienced management team and advisory board. “We focus on an ‘invest and build’ model and believe in becoming a value added financial partner”-added Ankit Gupta, Co-founder Now Foods.

Indian Food and Dining space has been witnessing new entrants and interest from the investor community along the entire value chain. Recent developments include PE investors acquiring Yum Brands (South & West India Franchisee rights); Dabur Group’s Burman Hospitality franchisee deal with Taco Bell for North India, Logistics and warehousing provider Snowman receiving expansion capital, and investor interest in the much-awaited Cafe Coffee Day’s INR 1,150 cr public issue.

Investors in the F&B sector need to analyze if the market can expand as well as absorb the unorganised sector fast enough to accommodate new players without near term loss of profit.

The QSR space is expected to witness 26% growth each year to reach INR 117 bn by 2017 from the current INR 60 bn.

“Carl’s Jr. offers unique value to customers resolving the consumers’ ‘Fast’ vs. ‘Quality’ choice conundrum. The business model is based on a lean (locally sourced) supply chain, stringent quality assurance program, along with an expansion strategy that is nimble through COCO and eventually a FOCO model. Moreover, the business model is grounded in reality – accounting for high rental costs in premium markets and ensuring healthy operating cash flows- which in turn will keep the payback periods short(outlet level)

With the growing digital adoption of food ordering systems and marketing reach through social platforms- companies that are able to demonstrate digital leadership will flourish in the long run. The Carl’s Jr. team has put a roadmap in place using its technology partnersincluding MICROS (owned by Oracle) and 3M. Integration with digital payment channels, customized loyalty programs accessible through mobile are under development. A data analysis team based out of India and Singapore will aid in real time strategy development. 

With a vision for expansion Carl’s Jr. India has developed its vendor and supply network as a task force, with each participant involved in understanding and mapping out of long term business targets. A dedicated finance team is exploring usage of financial instruments and contracts to manage commodity price volatility, exchange rate exposure and put a plan in place to consistently reduce COGS over the course of expansion.” said Sahil Baweja, Director, CybizBrightStar Restaurants.

“In addition to the first round of capital infusion, Now Foods has provided real estate advisory and project management support, as well as aided in developing the go to market strategy, proving to be a great value-added financial partner.” commented Samir Chopra on having Now Foods as his investing partner.

 Confident in its first tryst with the Cybiz Group, Now Foods is expanding its portfolio with the Cybiz group with becoming equity partners in Boombox Café-Rajouri Garden (launching in July) and Café OTB-P.