Subway Appoints Jo In-su, Former Outback President, as New CEO

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Subway Korea announced on the 18th that it has appointed Jo In-su, former president of Outback Steakhouse Korea (hereinafter ‘Outback’), as its new CEO.

According to Subway Korea, CEO Jo is a marketing expert and professional manager in the food service industry with extensive experience in various global companies. He worked at P&G for 13 years starting in 1984, joined Yum! Brands, the world's largest food service company, in 1997, and served as CEO of Pizza Hut Korea, Chairman of KFC Japan, and Senior Vice President at Yum! Brands headquarters in the U.S. until 2008. Since 2014, he has served as president of Outback Korea and as an executive in business development at Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of Outback, at its U.S. headquarters.

At P&G, he led P&G’s entry into the Korean market, and at Yum! Brands, he grew Pizza Hut into the undisputed number one pizza brand in Korea. At Bloomin’ Brands, he led the turnaround of Outback Korea, creating a value-up success story that attracted industry attention.

Subway Korea explained that it made a decisive recruitment of CEO Jo, highly valuing his capabilities and achievements as a professional manager in the food service industry, both domestically and globally. With CEO Jo at the forefront, the company plans to reorganize its lineup and establish Subway Korea’s status as a leader of global Subway.

CEO Jo said, “Subway is the world’s largest food service brand with the most stores worldwide and is recently the fastest-growing QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) brand in Korea,” adding, “We will continue the momentum of brand growth through active dialogue and communication with franchisees, and close collaboration with the BD (Business Developer) organization responsible for store development and operations in each region. At the same time, we will make every effort to enhance operational efficiency and maximize franchisees’ profitability.”

Meanwhile, Subway first entered the Korean market in 1991 through a master franchise system. After establishing a Korean branch in 2006, the U.S. headquarters directly entered the domestic market and undertook a major brand renewal. The number of stores, which surpassed 100 in mid-2014, reached 491 as of the end of last month (including stores on U.S. military bases), increasing about fivefold over eight years.