For the first time since becoming President of Arby’s, Jim Taylor hosted nearly 700 franchisees at the Arby’s Franchise Conference in Atlanta. While he reflected on how Arby’s was founded on premium, abundant sandwiches, Jim also laid out the vision for the brand’s future.
“Arby’s was born to be different. We’re different because of the food we serve, the service experience we offer and our bold, confident voice that breaks through with culture in a way that others in QSR don’t,” Jim said.
“I believe that organizations rise to the level of expectations you set for them. And our expectation is that we’ll continue to serve protein-packed sandwiches that are a notch above the competition and deliver a guest experience that matches the quality of our food.”
President of Arby’s Jim Taylor
Fulfilling those expectations revolves around continuing the brand’s unprecedented pipeline of innovation and activations. Over the last year, that’s included offering Deep Fried Turkey sandwiches around Thanksgiving, partnering with Kings Hawaiian to send Arby’s fans on a one-day trip to Hawaii for $6 and most recently creating the first meat vegetable: The Marrot.
“Everything we do in terms of our limited-time offerings is intended to help us become the QSR of choice by supporting our menu of craveable items, better-for-you Market Fresh options and value for your money during lunch and dinner,” Jim said.
“There’s simply no comparison to our meat quality in the industry.”
John Kelly, Chief Operating Officer
Arby’s Chief Operating Officer John Kelly
After another year of outstanding results, John Kelly pointed to the strong culture in restaurants across the United States and Canada as one of the biggest differences between Arby’s and the rest of QSR.
“Our go-forward strategy is focused on maintaining and always improving upon what I believe is one of the best cultures in the industry,” John said. “I see it in our restaurants from the passion and pride that our teams have, and I want to continue to feed that culture.”
In order to sustain that success, Arby’s has focused on the growth and development of its restaurant team members, educating and enabling them to chase their dreams by being purpose-driven. All that begins with Arby’s one-of-a-kind team member training program, Brand Champ.
“Brand Champ unlocks the potential in individuals and creates a level of engagement of people that work in our restaurants. Nobody else is doing that in QSR. Nobody else is providing that environment that we’ve committed to helping our team members and our general managers become more engaged in our business, and quite frankly, more engaged in their lives,” John said.
“These foundational pieces, of supporting our restaurant team members and general managers, are interwoven in our DNA. I’m so proud of the work we’ve done with Brand Champ and of so many franchisees who have continued to be so committed to executing our vision every year.”
