Culver's names a new CEO

culvers exterior

The Culver’s burger and frozen custard chain has named CFO Joseph Koss as its new CEO and president, effective Jan. 1.

Koss, a 19-year veteran of the quick-service chain, fills the vacancy left by the death last month of Phil Keiser. Co-founder and chairman Craig Culver is serving as CEO until Koss assumes the post.

Koss will be the second person from outside the Culver family to head the chain, after Keiser. Craig Culver retired from the job in mid-2015.

A graduate of Marquette University, Koss joined Culver’s in 1997 as controller. He has also overseen the franchisor’s business information and accounting systems.

“I know Culver's will continue to stay strong with the roadmap Phil left us that contains our core values and guiding principles," Koss said in a statement.

Jeff Bonner, currently SVP, will step up to COO on Jan. 1.

Culver’s consists of nearly 600 restaurants in 24 sales, which generate systemwide sales of $1.2 billion. Virtually all of the restaurants are franchised.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners