Tim Hortons global brand president Alex Macedo announced that Axel Schwan has been appointed as regional president of Tim Hortons for Canada and the U.S, effective immediately. He will continue to report to Macedo.

Previously global CMO at Tim Hortons, Axel will oversee growing the restaurant business in both markets with a particular focus on delivering stable, profitable growth in both markets.

“I am deeply humbled to work at such an iconic brand as Tim Hortons,” says Schwan. “Having grown up in a family of restauranteurs and working as a restaurant operator myself, I look forward to continuing to work closely with our 1,500 restaurant owners across Canada and the rest of the Tim Hortons family in providing exceptional products and service to all our guests.”

Axel first joined Restaurant Brands International eight years ago as Marketing Director in Germany, Austria & Switzerland and later became the VP Marketing & Communication in Europe before advancing to the role of Global CMO for Burger King in over 100 countries. During his tenure, Axel and his team were recognized as among the very best marketers on the planet – including earning many home market and international Cannes Lions and Axel earned the coveted Cannes Marketer of the Year award in 2017. He then joined Tim Hortons as Global CMO in 2017.

“Since joining the Tim Hortons brand two years ago, Axel has led our innovation work in coffee, including developing our new Fresh Brewers—our largest coffee innovation in 55 years,” Macedo says. “He has been essential to our work underway today on our core product innovation pipeline in breakfast, donuts and baked goods and has led our efforts in brand-based advertising. Axel has been an advocate for advancing our sustainability initiatives and has also led our work to redesign our restaurants and our packaging for a better guest experience.”

Tim Hortons has more than 4,800 system wide restaurants located in Canada, the United States and around the world.