Church's Texas Chicken named Kevin Nemeth Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer on Monday, placing a marketing and digital transformation veteran at the helm of its commercial engine as the Atlanta-based quick-service chain seeks measurable gains for corporate and franchised locations alike.
Nemeth's remit is unusually broad for a single appointment. He will oversee brand management, marketing, digital platforms, loyalty programmes, CRM, guest engagement, menu strategy, pricing architecture, product innovation and system-wide revenue growth — functions that at many chains are split across two or three C-suite seats.
The move signals that Church's Texas Chicken is consolidating its consumer-facing and revenue-generating operations under unified leadership, a structural shift that franchise-heavy operators have increasingly pursued as digital ordering and loyalty economics reshape the quick-service landscape. Rivals including Popeyes and KFC have made similar plays, bundling digital and brand strategy to extract more value from existing restaurant footprints rather than relying solely on unit growth. For context on how franchise chains are restructuring commercial leadership, see our earlier analysis of C-suite realignments in quick-service restaurants and the related pressure on franchise profitability metrics.
Church's Texas Chicken, which operates and franchises locations across the United States and in international markets, did not disclose financial terms of the appointment or provide guidance linked to the hire. The company has not publicly reported same-store sales or unit-count figures in connection with this announcement.
Nemeth's background in digital transformation is notable at a moment when loyalty programme enrolment and app-based ordering are becoming primary battlegrounds in value-oriented chicken QSR — a segment that has seen sustained traffic pressure from consumers trading down in a high-cost environment and trading across to grocery alternatives. Centralising pricing and menu strategy under the same leader who controls CRM and loyalty data could allow faster, more data-driven promotional response.
"Kevin brings the commercial expertise and digital fluency we need to strengthen our brand and deliver measurable results for our franchisees," the company said in its announcement, without providing a direct attributed quote from a named executive. Nemeth's start date and reporting structure were not disclosed.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
