Awarded by Informa Connect Foodservice, Inspire is honored for visionary leadership and extraordinary impact on the restaurant industry
Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,400 Arby’s,® Baskin-Robbins®, Buffalo Wild Wings®, Dunkin’®, Jimmy John’s® and SONIC® locations worldwide, has been recognized as the 2026 Global Restaurant Leader of the Year by Informa Connect Foodservice.
“We are honored to receive the Global Restaurant Leader of the Year award on behalf of everyone at Inspire Brands, our family of iconic brands, and our licensees,” said Inspire Brands Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Paul Brown. “I want to congratulate our people and business partners for this well-deserved recognition that reflects the passion of our licensees and team members around the world. Their collective drive to innovate and pursue an outstanding guest experience is what makes achievements like this possible. As we continue to expand our global footprint, we remain dedicated to meeting evolving consumer needs, growing our brands, and creating lasting impact in the communities we serve.”
Inspire was founded in 2018 with the ambition to build a restaurant company that combines the power of iconic brands with the advantages of a shared operating system. With data and analytics at the core of everything, Inspire was purpose-built to be the model for the next era of restaurant growth. Today, the company and its licensees operate restaurants in 55 global markets with approximately 650,000 team members.
“The awards recognize organizations that have successfully scaled operations while maintaining brand integrity and operational excellence across borders,” said Chris Keating, EVP of Conferences at Informa Connect. “These winners represent the gold standard in leadership, technology, menu innovation, franchise excellence, and international expansion. Inspire Brands is receiving the highest honor for visionary leadership and extraordinary impact on the global restaurant industry.”
The Globie Awards, powered by The Coca-Cola Company, will take place during the 2026 Global Restaurant Leadership Conference (GRLC) in Cannes, France in November.
“GRLC brings together some of the brightest minds in our industry, and we are grateful to be part of a global community committed to shaping the future of restaurants,” Brown said.
About Inspire Brands
Inspire Brands is a restaurant company unlike any other, led by 650,000 inspiring team members and more than 2,500 invested franchisees around the world. The company’s iconic brands – Arby’s®, Baskin-Robbins®, Buffalo Wild Wings®, Dunkin’®, Jimmy John’s® and SONIC® – are intelligently integrated to leverage data and insights that drive innovation. By creating irresistible food and interactions that people crave every day, Inspire ignites impassioned guest loyalty across 55 global markets. For more information, visit www.inspirebrands.com.
About Informa Connect Foodservice
Informa Connect Foodservice is a premier portfolio of market-leading media brands and events—including Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), Restaurant Business (RB), Technomic, and The National Restaurant Association Show—serving the restaurant, foodservice, catering, convenience store, grocery, and hospitality industries. The portfolio delivers top-tier editorial content, digital and print publications, data assets, and industry-leading events that connect the entire B2B foodservice ecosystem through trusted insights, networking opportunities, and business solutions.
