Name: Daniel Batty
New title: Chief development officer, Swig
Previous title: Vice president of design and construction, Dutch Bros Coffee
Batty has over 20 years of QSR experience and has been involved in over 2,000 development projects, according to the press release emailed to Restaurant Dive. He spent more than six years at Dutch Bros overseeing over 200 new store developments. He has also held roles at McDonald’s, CKE Restaurants and Dunkin’ Brands where he worked in areas of development, franchise growth, operations management, vendor partnerships, business growth and team leadership.
“Daniel is a game-changer. He is experienced, strategic, and uniquely qualified to help lead Swig’s expansion across North America,” said Alex Dunn, CEO of Swig, in a statement.
Batty’s experience will be particularly helpful as Swig works to open 500 signed franchised stores. The soda fountain chain already plans to open 25 company-owned units and 40 franchised units by the end of the year, according to Fast Casual. The company was founded in 2010 and currently has 81 units in operation across seven states.
The chain has been working to bolster its C-suite with experienced leadership, adding Dylan Roeder as CMO and Chase Wardrop as COO. Both Roeder and Wardrop co-founded The Soda Shop in 2015, which was later acquired by Savory Fund in 2017. When the private equity firm bought Swig in 2018, The Soda Shop merged with Swig and the two executives became part owners and vice presidents at Swig. Bill Ayers, formerly global VP of finance at Black Diamond, was also hired as CFO in January. The company hired a new CEO in 2022, the same year Larry Miller Company acquired a majority stake.
