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Wendy’s makes breakfast optional and trims its menu to win back traffic
After several quarters of decline, Wendy's has unveiled "Dave's Way", a multi-year turnaround plan. Breakfast becomes optional for franchisees, low-volume items leave the menu and crew organisation is being reworked. The logic is simple: a restaurant that does fewer things does them better, and faster.
Wendy's same-store sales fell 5.7% in the third quarter. US traffic has been declining for several quarters. Against this backdrop, chief executive Robert Wright presented "Dave's Way" alongside the group's results. The plan had first been shared with franchisees and suppliers at a convention in September. The stated goal is to grow traffic and market share while improving restaurant profitability.
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Emmanuel Aublet · Chief Executive — Retail, Food & Beverage, Franchising
30 years growing, turning around and transforming multi-unit networks, from Subway to Pizza Hut and Just Eat. INSEAD MBA · Paris
Key figures
- 275 → 500+ Subway restaurants in France: network doubled, €200m in sales
- +14 % sales growth at Pizza Hut France in 2019, after two years of decline
- ÷ 3 losses at Just Eat France, in one year
- +50 % conversion rate with the new Pizza Hut e-commerce site
Three proof points
Grow — Subway, France, Belgium & French-speaking Switzerland (2011-2015). Franchise network in France doubled, from 275 to more than 500 restaurants and €200m in sales. New offer and pricing policy in the middle of a restaurant-sector downturn (+3% to +7% in sales and profitability in pilot regions), framework agreements with Elior and Lagardère Services for the first motorway and railway-station restaurants, launch in French-speaking Switzerland and relaunch of the Belgian network. Read the case →
Turn around — Pizza Hut France, AmRest group (2017-2019). Turnaround of a €70m, 200-employee business: losses cut from -€3m in 2017 to near break-even in 2019, sales from -5.7% to +14%. Digitalisation (e-commerce site, delivery, e-learning, digital marketing), new operations manual, clean-up of the 115-franchisee network and launch of the first fast-casual concept in France. In parallel, managing director of La Tagliatella France. Read the case →
Transform — Just Eat France (2023-2025). Losses divided by three in one year through redesigned commercial and marketing policies and renegotiated key supplier contracts. Then, following the board’s decision, led the closure of the French business: negotiation of the redundancy plan and execution of the operational and financial plan. Read the case →
Quoted by Les Echos, Ouest-France, BFM Business, L’Hôtellerie Restauration, Snacking and Néo Restauration — see press coverage
What I bring
- Network development and franchising — multi-country growth, B2B agreements, acquisitions, franchisee engagement and operational rigour.
- P&L turnaround — rapid diagnosis, costed action plan, tracked execution, including in the most difficult situations.
- Digital and operational transformation — e-commerce, platforms, operations manuals, change management.
- AI applied to decisions — store performance, pricing, supply chain: use cases measured against the P&L, with the right guardrails.
Career
- 2023-2025 — Managing Director France, Just Eat Takeaway.com
- 2020-… — Founder, Phormio Consulting: retail strategy advisory, senior advisor (Yoobic, Alloreview), board member of Lucibel (2020-2021)
- 2016-2019 — President of Pizza Hut France and Managing Director France of La Tagliatella, AmRest group
- 2011-2015 — Managing Director France, Belgium & French-speaking Switzerland, Subway
- 2007-2010 — Regional Director Île-de-France, Hygena Cuisines (Nobia group)
- 2004-2006 — Store Manager, Conforama (PPR group): turnaround, operating profit tripled
- 1995-2000 — Regional Director Paris & London, SONAB; motorway shops manager, Esso France
- 1993-1994 — Officer of the watch, French Navy
Education: INSEAD MBA (2001) · ESC Tours
Publication: contribution to the INSEAD case “Larry Ellison: A Samurai Warrior in Silicon Valley” (2002), written by Elizabeth Florent-Treacy under the supervision of Manfred Kets de Vries (see the case)
“Who cares about new technologies! New usage is it!” — I wrote that in 2011 on my “Retail & Innovation” blog. It is even truer with AI.