Panera Brands names restaurant veteran as board chairman

Panera Brands operates more than 3,700 company and franchised locations in 11 countries across its brands.

Panera Brands Inc. is overhauling its board of directors and welcoming a new chairman.

The parent company of Panera Bread, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Caribou Coffee has announced that José Cil has been appointed chairman of its board of directors. In this role, Cil will work closely with Panera’s leadership team to “drive growth and differentiated value and experiences” for guests across its portfolio. He succeeds Patrick Grismer, who served as independent board chair since June 2024 and was recently nominated to serve on the board of Krispy Kreme.

Cil most recently served as CEO of Restaurant Brands International (RBI), one of the world’s largest quick-service restaurant companies, which owns the Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs brands. In that role, he helped grow the business to more than $40 billion in system-wide sales and 30,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. During his tenure, he oversaw the global expansion of Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons, the acceleration of unit and same-store sales growth of Popeyes in the United States, the “reinvigoration” of Tim Hortons in Canada, and the acquisition of Firehouse Subs.

“José brings to Panera more than two decades of restaurant industry leadership experience and an impressive track record of innovation and execution to Panera, and I’m tremendously excited to work alongside him to continue powering our growth,” said Paul Carbone, who became CEO of Panera Brands earlier this spring. “I look forward to working with José and the leadership team to build a strong culture, to deliver an exceptional guest experience and to drive franchise profitability. I would also like to thank Patrick for all of his partnership during his time on the Board and wish him the very best.”