Dive Brief:

• Panera Brands has appointed Michael Tattersfield, CEO of Krispy Kreme, to its board of directors and appointed board member Patrick Grismer as lead independent director, the company said Monday in a press release.
• Tattersfield, who is stepping down from his Krispy Kreme post, will become board chairman in January. He has held the CEO post at the doughnut chain since 2017, overseeing significant growth and transformation during this time. 
• These board changes come as the company prepares for its future initial public offering, the company said. 

Dive Insight:

Tattersfield’s appointment could prove instrumental in the company’s public debut, especially since Tattersfield led Krispy Kreme through its own return to the stock market in 2021. The company has made several leadership changes this year as it gears up for an IPO after a SPAC deal fell through in 2022. It shuffled around executives in May and added a CFO in August and  as part of this preparation. 

Grismer has been on the board of Panera Brands since 2022, currently serving as a chair for the audit committee. He has years of financial experience, including a combined nine years as CFO at Starbucks, Hyatt Hotels and Yum Brands, according to the press release. 

While Panera Brands, which includes Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels, has yet to indicate when it plans its public debut. The company has, however, been setting up its business to appeal to shareholders. Panera Bread has grown its digital capabilities, which now account for 51% of sales, according to the press release. Its loyalty program has grown to 53 million members and the addition of its loyalty subscription, Unlimited Sip Club, accounts for 25% of Panera transactions.

Caribou Coffee has been growing through U.S. franchising and now has a pipeline of 300 domestic franchised units. The coffee company’s big goal is to become the third-largest coffee chain in the U.S. Panera Brands, in total, had more than $4.8 billion in revenue during fiscal 2022.