QSR Media Sandhurst Conference & Awards 2021

Richard has been working within YUM! Brands for over 25 years, starting his career as a delivery driver in Pizza Hut way back in 1995. While this was initially a job to make ends meet while at university, he knew he was onto something special. Drawn to the fast pace and the culture, it wasn’t too long before his Area Manager encouraged him to train as a Restaurant Manager. He fell in love with the people and the business, and after a broad career across Australia, moved to Canada as the GM for Pizza Hut.  With a talented team and the right strategy, the Canadian business returned to consecutive years of sales and unit growth. From here, Richard moved closer to home, where he assumed the role of Managing Director of KFC Greater Asia based in Singapore, working with our incredible franchise partners in countries across the region. Then in April 2020, Richard returned back down under and has been Managing Director of KFC South Pacific ever since. Since returning, Richard has partnered with our Leadership team and Franchisees to navigate the business through the pandemic and develop KFC’s future strategy to revolutionize our customer experience underpinned by our distinctive people-led culture.

Possessing profound expertise in developing teams, Dennis Koorey is a passionate leader that delivers sophisticated systems that empower retail and hospitality organisations to grow.

Bringing over 25 years of professional experience in retail and  the hospitality management and brand development space, including a decade as a Country Manager for the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company, Nestle, Dennis’ understanding of navigating sustainable platforms for both nation and international expansion is unparalleled.

Since 2018 Dennis has been Chief Operating Office of leading QSR fast-casual dining franchise, Roll’d Vietnamese, assisting with internal growth and leading significant projects including new products and recently launched pantry items and condiments found nationwide in Roll’d Vietnamese stores and Coles Supermarkets.

Grant is the CEO of Concept Eight, a national QSR franchisor established in 1996 with 150 franchisees. Concept Eight brands include; Noodle Box, Wok in a Box, Pattysmiths Burgers, Supreme Leader Chicken, Alabama Chicken & Wings as well as Double Dragon Dumplings.

Prior to joining Concept Eight, Grant held GM positions in several ASX Listed Companies. He also understands the challenges of owing a small business having owned an advertising agency and online shopping site for 14 years.

He has extensive franchising experience having worked with; Bob Jane T-Marts, Hungry Jacks, Amcal and Guardian Chemists, Commander Dealers, Holden Dealers, Hocking Stuart real estate and Tabcorp (Tabaret and TAB).

Bringing over 20 years of professional experience as a leader and founder within the hospitality space Ankur is successfully continuing to innovate to ensure an agile business that stands financially strong despite market change and unforeseen challenges. 

A key challenge is to set up a system to ensure consistency across all current 11 and future PNut outlets, with everything from sauces made from scratch by our recipes in collaboration with a Michelin star chef and produced in Thailand, to processes and kitchen set up to ensure that every Pad Thai served from P’Nut funky street venues is not just Tasty, Fast, Fresh but also taste and look the same whatever PNut venue you order from.

Ankur is initiating and leading new future projects within P’Nut such as introducing new cloud brands, optimization and effectiveness of operational set up within our kitchens to overcome industry staff shortage and finding ways to digitise as many aspects of the business as possible.

Ankur has a diverse multicultural background, growing up in India by parents running a popular Inn Hotel, studied at University at America Cornell University School of Hotel administration had a successful career in private equity and investment banking in the US before moving to Australia becoming a multi-unit franchise with Subway before buying WOI and creating P’Nut with its 11 corporate-owned stores.

In the next few years, P’Nut aims to expand to 20 stores, launch a third cloud kitchen concept across two states, and accelerate revenue growth across the whole operation.  

When Ankur is not working with P’Nut you can find him teaching ethics at his daughter's school or biking around Thailand to raise money for charity since giving back has always been a big ethos.

Carlos Cacho is Chief Economist for Jarden in Australia. Prior to joining Jarden, Carlos spent three years as Australian Economist at UBS Australia, and previously five years at Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

Carlos holds a Bachelor of Economics, as well as a First Class Honours in Economics from the University of New South Wales.

Duane Barber is President and Chief Executive Officer at IPC Asia Pacific and a member of the board of directors. He joined the business in October 2000, bringing more than 20 years of food industry leadership, marketing expertise, and retail management experience with him. His vision and capacity to lead transformational change, has helped the business extract value and maximise its potential through sharp strategic vision, a focus on market opportunity, and building a high-performance culture.

Duane is a motivational leader with a clear vision. Together with the board of directors and leadership team, Duane has shaped the strategic direction of IPC Asia Pacific, finding increasingly innovative ways to reduce costs and drive revenue for Subway® franchisees.

Duane has taken IPC Asia Pacific on a journey of exciting growth, building a profitable, fully diversified centralised service offering spanning procurement, distribution, finance, HR, and technology. IPC Asia Pacific today supports over 3,000 restaurants across APAC.

Paul Zahra is a leading figure of Australian retail having worked in the industry for more than 35 years in senior executive and non-executive roles, including as former CEO and Managing Director of David Jones. Paul has also advised companies and boards on a range of areas including leadership, disruptive change, digital transformation, and diversity and inclusion.

Jessica Saxby is a young business professional with a proven track record in startups, business strategy and guiding people to be their best. Majoring in International Business, Marketing and HR, Jess was co-creator of the successful Liveat Franchise whilst still at university. CEO and Managing Director of Banjo’s Bakery Café’s for the past 10 years, Jess has consolidated the business and prepared it for substantial growth with plans for the Franchise to expand to 80 stores. Jess brings energy, vision and inspiration to Banjo’s and has created a strong team who are definitely on the rise!

Andrew’s career commenced in professional services working in a variety of corporate roles as a commercial lawyer, strategy consultant and a business advisor across a broad spectrum of industries including retail, media, logistics and mining and energy.  

In 2012 Andrew was engaged as a consultant at Krispy Kreme to reset their omni-channel strategy in lieu of the partnership with 7-Eleven and work with the Board to reset the trajectory of the business. In 2013 he was subsequently appointed CEO whereby he set about re-energizing the brand and culture and implementing a highly successful growth strategy which has seen the Company grow in size, scale and performance.

In 2018 Andrew worked with the founding shareholders to achieve a successful exit via the sale of the Australia and New Zealand market back to the US parent company, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation.  Post 2018, Andrew has continued in his role as CEO for the ANZ business building out the omni-channel strategy well as assuming broader leadership responsibility within the global Krispy Kreme organization.

Orlando Rodriguez joined Coca-Cola Amatil (now Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP)) in May 2019 as Director, Distribution and Service, Australian Beverages, bringing with him 20 years of retail and FMCG experience from senior roles across both Woolworths and Coles.  Orlando was appointed Supply Chain Director in September 2020.

Prior to joining CCEP, Orlando was a General Manager in numerous capacities, including ECommerce, NSW/ACT supermarkets, Store Development, Supply Chain, Merchandise, Business Transformation and Logistics with Coles and Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia and New Zealand.

Orlando has a Bachelor of Economics and an MBA from Monash University.

Outside of work Orlando enjoys spending time with his young family, travel and sport.

Alex Heat is a Senior Industry Manager. She joined Google Australia in March 2006 as the company's 30th Aussie employee. She has fifteen years of digital experience with deep specialisation in Search, YouTube and Display spanning multiple industries. To ensure she’s not blinded by her ‘Google blinkers’ and remains focused on the bigger business picture, she’s been dedicating Fridays to completing her MBA at AGSM. Outside of work and study, Alex’s husband, three kids and a passion for trail running keep her busy. She runs largely so she can eat QSR guilt-free.

Esha is a Strategy and Insights Manager for QSR and consumer products. Her passion lies in connecting the dots and finding opportunities for brands through anticipating consumer insights and behaviours. Prior to joining Google, she has worked in a diverse career across finance, strategy, marketing and sales. Outside of work, she is busy with her 2 kids, husband and little dog, all of whom she's gotten to know extra well being in Victoria's lockdown for the last 10/12 months!