Kim Lopdrup Kim joined Darden Restaurants in November 2003 as Executive Vice President of Marketing for Red Lobster and was named President in May 2004. He has been in the restaurant industry since 1985 and has extensive operations, marketing and brand management experience. Kim was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, North America, for Burger King Corporation. He led that company’s 8,500 North American restaurants to record guest satisfaction while turning around declining same-store sales. Before Burger King, Kim spent 16 years with Dunkin’ Brands (previously called Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants), the parent of Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo’s. He turned around Dunkin’ Donuts’ previously-declining coffee business as that brand’s Product Marketing Manager for Beverages. Later, as Vice President of Marketing, he managed Dunkin’s hugely successful “Time to make the Donuts” ad campaign starring Fred the Baker. And as Chief Executive Officer of Dunkin’ Brands’ 3,500-unit international division, he took that business from record loses to record profits and dramatically accelerated its growth. Kim began his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble, working on brands such as Folgers Coffee and Citrus Hill Orange Juice. He is currently a Director of Wawa, Inc., the country’s second-largest convenience store chain. He is also a Board Member for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. He earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the College of William and Mary and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. He lives in Winter Park, Florida, with his wife, Cathy, and four children. His hobbies include spending time with his family, traveling, investing and running. He completed the Boston Marathon twice. Doug Green Doug has a strong track record of success leading Operations teams in three of Darden Restaurants' businesses. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Red Lobster's Heartland and Canada Divisions. Doug began his Darden career in 1997 as Director of Operations for Olive Garden in Chicago. By July of that year, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of the Chicago Division. He joined Darden's New Business team in 2002 as Senior Vice President of Operations, helping select the opening team for Seasons 52 and ensuring the new concept set new standards in operational excellence. Before joining Darden, Doug spent eight years with Pizza Hut where he advanced from District Manager to Vice President of Operations. He then moved to Vice President of Diversity and later to Vice President of Operations Development where he was responsible for implementing operating programs into the company's 8,000 restaurants. Doug earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, and has a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University. Salli Setta Salli joined Red Lobster in April 2005 after serving as Senior Vice President, Culinary and Beverage at Olive Garden for four years. In that role, she led the technical and creative development of Olive Garden’s award-winning menu and wine list, bringing more approachably authentic Italian dishes and extensive selection of wine to Olive Garden guests. In 2003, her culinary team garnered a MenuMaster’s award for “Best Menu Revamp” from Nation’s Restaurant News. In February 2003, Salli received the honor of Restaurant Business’ “Menu Strategist of the Year” in the casual dining industry. That same month, she was named as one of Nation’s Restaurant News’ “Top 50 R&D Culinarians.” Before that, Salli was Vice President of Brand Marketing, managing all local and national marketing and advertising for Olive Garden. She joined Olive Garden in 1990 as a sales promotion assistant and worked in nearly every marketing capacity at the restaurant company. Salli is a 1987 graduate of the University of Central Florida with a degree in Communication. She earned an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology in 1992. Salli is involved with the Women’s Foodservice Forum and participates in Darden Restaurants’ Mentor Program and Diversity Council. Salli lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband Greg and daughter Juliana. She enjoys spending time with her family, working out and reading. Bill Lambert Before joining Red Lobster, Bill spent 21 years with Federated Department Stores, parent company of Macy’s, Rich’s, and other department store companies. He began his career at Federated in 1984 as a manager of financial planning and analysis with the company’s Mainstreet Division in Chicago. He then held a variety of positions in progressively more responsible roles leading up to Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer for the Central Region. In this role, Bill was responsible for finance, accounting, merchandise planning, and information systems for the $2.1 billion department store division of Federated, operating 73 stores in nine midwestern and southeast states. Prior to Federated, Bill was Senior Financial Analyst at Ameritrust Corporation in Ohio, where he was responsible for financial planning activities for the bank. Bill has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Michigan and received his undergraduate degree in Business from Duke University. Roger Bing Roger Bing is Vice President of Seafood Purchasing for Darden Restaurants, the world’s largest casual dining restaurant company. He is responsible for procuring $850 million in goods from 32 countries worldwide and distributing them to more than 1700 restaurants in the United States and Canada. Bing has been instrumental in bringing together Darden’s world-class team of protein suppliers and buyers, who provide all the seafood for the company’s six unique brands: Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52 and The Capital Grille. He joined Darden in 1998 as Director of Seafood Purchasing and helped develop innovative fresh fish sourcing systems and cost-saving inventory controls. Before joining Darden, Bing spent a good part of his career overseas, particularly in Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa. He started his career as an apprentice in protein production and international trading with Union International in London, a $4 billion global protein production corporation. From there he took on positions of increasing responsibility in protein procurement/distribution and became chief operating officer and general manager of a domestic fresh seafood production and live lobster distribution company in New England. Bing received his Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science & Natural Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has held numerous leadership positions with significant industry organizations including the National Fishery Institute, the Global Aquaculture Alliance and the International Groundfish Forum. Bing, his wife, Melissa, and their children, Jacquie and Erik, live in Orlando, Florida. He enjoys travel, running and swimming. Diane Psaras Diane is a proven leader with more than 28 years of HR experience in various industries, including 10 years with retail food and beverage. Diane joined Red Lobster in June 2008 from Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and self-adhesive solutions for consumer products and label materials. She started with Avery in 1994 and held progressively responsible positions leading up to her most recent role as Vice President, HR for the company's Specialty Materials organization. Leading a staff of 28 HR professionals worldwide, Diane drove functional excellence through innovative approaches to HR services and was instrumental in implementing a global talent upgrade and retentions strategy and improved talent acquisition efforts. Prior to Avery, Diane served in HR leadership roles with Kaiser Aluminum and S.Q.S. Properties Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Youngstown State University in Ohio and is certified (SHRM SPHR) human resources professional. |
