All-natural chicken concept Birdcall has hired a new CEO as it gets ready to grow.
The Denver-based fast casual on Tuesday announced that Mark Lohmann, former president of Quiznos owner Rego Restaurant Group, will take the reins from current CEO and co-founder Peter Newlin.
Newlin will move into the newly created role of chief experience officer.
Nine-unit Birdcall said it will lean on Lohmann’s experience scaling restaurant brands as it looks to double its unit count next year and expand beyond Colorado and Arizona into Texas.
Lohmann spent four years at Rego, where he worked to revitalize Quiznos. He also spent nearly three years at Qdoba as vice president of strategy and business development.
Mark Lohmann / Photo courtesy of Birdcall
In Birdcall, he inherits a chain that is known as much for its technology as its fried chicken sandwiches. It built its own ordering system, called Poncho, and customers order from touchscreen kiosks rather than cashiers.
It also sources ingredients locally and donates 1% of sales to community initiatives.
“Birdcall is competitively advantaged and differentiated versus other brands in a unique and special way,” Lohmann said in a statement, citing its tech and high-quality food. “When combined with our active and thoughtful involvement within each of our communities, we can grow in an exciting way.”
Newlin, who led the effort to find a new CEO, said Lohmann shares his vision for Birdcall as a tech-centric growth chain. “I very much look forward to supporting Mark as he guides the brand to the future while continuing to build industry-changing technology,” he said in a statement.
Newlin co-founded Birdcall in 2017 with restaurateur Jean-Philippe Failyau. The two also run Gastamo Group, which owns a number of local restaurants in Denver.
Birdcall is backed by Denver-based private equity firm Mantucket Capital.
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