Scott Kennedy. Caribou Espresso press photograph.
Caribou Espresso named Scott Kennedy president and CEO, formalizing the roles he has held on an interim foundation because the March departure of John Butcher.
Kennedy beforehand served because the Minneapolis-based espresso chain’s chief monetary officer starting in 2019, though the enterprise has undergone quite a few structural and management adjustments since that point.
A part of the JAB Holding Firm-owned Panera Manufacturers group — which additionally consists of Panera Bread and Einstein Bros. Bagels — Caribou Espresso offered its espresso roasting and consumer-packaged-goods enterprise to European conglomerate JDE Peet’s for $260 million in 2024.
That portfolio transfer drew some consideration final month, when Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) introduced plans to amass JDE Peet’s in an $18 billion deal. Whereas the Caribou title stays below the JDE Peet’s packaged-coffee umbrella, the retail enterprise continues to function below Panera Manufacturers, with a major concentrate on retailer enlargement.
As of final month, Caribou counted greater than 800 espresso retailers in 11 international locations, together with roughly 495 in the USA.
Kennedy brings a finance-heavy résumé to the highest CEO place. Earlier than becoming a member of Caribou, he spent 14 years in government positions at Goal Company, together with six years as president of monetary and retail providers. Earlier in his profession, he spent almost 16 years at UK-based monetary providers conglomerate KPMG, ending as a companion.
“Caribou Espresso is a beloved model with a powerful basis of remarkable merchandise and a welcoming coffeehouse expertise,” Kennedy stated in an announcement from the corporate yesterday. “Trying forward, I see super alternative to speed up our development, broaden our attain and proceed elevating what makes Caribou distinctive.”
In recent times Caribou has pursued enlargement via smaller, drive-through-focused codecs and franchising. The corporate launched its “Caribou Cabin” small-format idea in 2019, then launched U.S. franchising in 2021 after testing the mannequin, with an intention to widen its footprint past core Higher Midwest markets.
The corporate closed its authentic espresso home — which opened in Edina, Minnesota, in 1992 — citing a have to adapt to “altering visitors, expertise and financial patterns.”
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