Restaurant Industry Veteran Kerry Kramp Joins Let's Dish! As Ceo

Fast Start to '06 also Yields Philadelphia Development Agreement, New VP of Real Estate, Launch of National Brand

(Wednesday, March 01, 2006) - Twin Cities-based Let's Dish!, Inc. today announced restaurant industry veteran Kerry Kramp has joined the retail meal preparation company as chief executive officer, according to Let's Dish! Co-Founders Ruth Lundquist and Darcy Olson.

"Kerry is everything we were searching for in a top executive to lead our company's aggressive national expansion plan," Lundquist and Olson said. "He has the vision, experience and passion to push the Let's Dish! brand to the top of the retail meal preparation category. Kerry's reputation as a great leader will also help us attract the best and brightest people to the Let's Dish! team."

Lundquist and Olson will continue as co-founders and will work closely with Kramp and the executive management team on all aspects of the company's growth and development.

Kramp, a 30-year restaurant industry veteran, is the former chief executive officer of Buffets, Inc., the parent company of HomeTown Buffet, Old Country Buffet and Tahoe Joe's. He joined the Buffets, Inc., executive management team in 1992 when the company had just two stores. He was named president in 1995 and chief executive officer in 2000, the same year Buffets, Inc. topped the $1 billion sales mark. [Editor's note: Biography included below.]

"My passion is working with food industry entrepreneurs who have great, young concepts that are ready to be built to the next level," Kramp said. "Ruth and Darcy really are a dream team. They read the trend early, and they've put the foundation in place to become the breakaway brand in the retail meal preparation category.

"The operational infrastructure is built for volume and profit — it's one of the best I've seen in an early-stage company," Kramp added. "The menu and food quality are outstanding, and consumers love the brand's fun, cheeky personality."

Let's Dish! also has named Dave Crowley vice president of real estate, construction, and development. Crowley, a 30-year industry veteran, will be responsible for developing the infrastructure to support the company's growth strategy and for supporting franchisees with real estate development, construction and facility management.

Prior to joining Let's Dish!, Crowley was executive vice president of real estate and development for Pasta Pomodoro, Inc., an Italian eatery with more than 45 locations in the western United States.


2006 National Breakout Year For Let's Dish! Brand

This will be the national breakout year for the Let's Dish! brand. "We have an incredible new menu, a fine-tuned brand, Website and national store prototype, and our operations are built for growth," Olson said. "All systems are go for fast national expansion."

Let's Dish! is projecting a surge in new locations, from a January 1 count of nine stores in four states to approximately 30 locations in 10 states by year-end. "Our area developers will open multiple locations in Boston, St. Louis and Kansas City beginning this month, and we've just signed our fourth franchise area development agreement for 11 stores in the Philadelphia area," Lundquist said.

"We also plan to complete the build-out of our headquarters market with an additional four to six locations across the Twin Cities over the next one to two years," Lundquist added.

About Let's Dish!

Let's Dish! was one of the first retail meal preparation stores in the country when
Co-Founders Ruth Lundquist and Darcy Olson introduced their concept in October 2003. Their goal was to create a great business by offering people a fresh, new way to feed their families.
Customers make menu choices, sign up and prepay for sessions at the company's Website. When customers arrive at the store, refrigerated workstations for each menu are stocked with all necessary ingredients, which can be varied to meet specific tastes. Customers rotate from station to station preparing eight to 12 different entrees and side dishes in six-serving sizes. The meals are then brought home to be frozen and cooked at a later date.

For more information and store locations visit letsdish.com.


Kerry Kramp Biography

Kerry Kramp has nearly 30 years of food industry experience and a passion for helping to build early-stage concepts into successful national brands. In 2004 he founded Level 5 Ventures, LLC, a restaurant development and franchise company focused on creating high-quality consumer foodservice concepts.

Kramp joined Buffets, Inc. in 1992 as director of operations when it was just a two-location enterprise. He was named the company's chief executive officer in 2000, the same year the company topped $1 billion in sales and more than 25,000 employees. Kramp continued in that role until 2004.

Kramp was from 1986 to 1988 co-founder and chief operating officer of Chicken By George, Inc., a retail product line developed and marketed in partnership with former Miss America Phyllis George. The brand was acquired by Hormel Foods Corporation in 1988, and Kramp became Hormel's director of specialty foods.

He joined Chi-Chi's, Inc. in 1980 when the Mexican restaurant chain had only seven locations. By 1985, his last year as the company's vice president of food and beverage,
Chi-Chi's had grown to more than 180 restaurants. Kramp also has held management positions with Steak and Ale Restaurants.

Kramp has received numerous restaurant industry awards, including Nation's Restaurant News 2003 "Golden Chain" award, an International Foodservice Manufacturers Association's 2002 "Silver Plate" award and the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers' 2002 "Commitment to People" award. Under Kramp's leadership, Buffets, Inc., received the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's 2002 "Employer of Choice" award for its manager training and development programs.

Kramp, age 50, earned his bachelor's degree in restaurant management from Ohio State University, Columbus, and was named a distinguished alumni of the University in 2005. He also attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and was inducted as a Fellow of the Institute in 2005.

He is a member of the advisory board of Elliot Leadership Institute, a global center for developing and training the next generation of hospitality and foodservice industry leaders, and serves on advisory boards of four food industry companies.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Kramp lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three children. He is an avid cook and enjoys coaching football and collecting cars.

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