Papa Johns chief supply chain officer to retire, replacement named | Chain Store Age

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Papa John’s International, Inc. has announced a new change to its c-suite.

Kurt Milburn has been promoted to the role of chief supply chain officer, succeeding Shane Hutchins, who will retire after 26 years at Papa Johns. Hutchins has served in the position since October 2018, and will continue to work with the pizza chain as a consultant on special projects.

Milburn joined Papa Johns in 2022 as VP of supply chain operations, with responsibilities include overseeing engineering and operations support functions as well as the International Supply Chain organization. Prior to Papa Johns, Milburn served as senior VP of supply chain operations at Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. He also held engineering and supply chain management positions at General Electric and General Motors.

In the role of chief supply chain Officer, Milburn will lead Papa Johns Food Service (PJFS), which oversees the company’s Quality Control Center Operations, Supplier Management and Quality Assurance. He will report to interim CEO Ravi Thanawala and will serve on the Papa Johns executive leadership team.

The promotion comes as Papa Johns continues to expand its store count, recently announcing that it would open 50 new restaurants by 2028 through a new franchise agreement.

“I’m thrilled for Kurt to become our next chief supply chain officer, as he brings deep expertise in supply chain and engineering from large, complex organizations and strong knowledge of our organization having led Papa Johns Food Service operations over the last two years,” said Thanawala. “I look forward to his leadership as we continue to evolve our supply chain to meet the demands of our growing business. On behalf of the entire Papa Johns team, I would like to thank Shane for leading us through some of our biggest supply chain transformations and look forward to continuing to leverage his experience in other capacities.”

Co-headquartered in Atlanta and Louisville, Ky., Papa Johns is the world’s third-largest pizza delivery company with more than 5,900 restaurants in 50 countries and territories.