BurgerFi International Inc. has hired Henry Gonzalez as Chief Marketing Officer.
Gonzalez holds over 25 years of experience with leading brands in marketing, account management, product development, category management, merchandising and promotions both domestically and internationally with B2C and B2B businesses. Gonzalez is another welcome addition to BurgerFi’s C-Suite and Executive Management Team, since the recent announcements of Chief Financial Officer, Michael Rabinovitch and Chief Operations Officer, Jim Esposito joining the company.
“While Henry’s been successful across several industries and categories, his tenacity, efforts give a unique perspective into the food industry is undeniable,” says Ophir Sternberg, Executive Chairman of BurgerFi. “For over 25 years, his experience in sales and marketing for leading [quick-service restaurant] chains, food manufacturers and ad agencies has effectively trained him to understand how to develop collaborative relationships that drive sales and profit growth. We welcome him to BurgerFi’s leadership team where we know he’ll be instrumental in redefining our brand and value proposition.”
Gonzalez joins BurgerFi after serving as Founder of Bigger Slice Consulting, a marketing consulting practice focused on helping companies accelerate and sustain profitable growth by collaborating with them to define or refine their brand or value proposition, brand and product portfolio, strategic and tactical marketing plans, campaigns and communications. Prior to, he served as Chief Marketing Officer of Costa Farms, leading the marketing and category management teams developing new products, brands, merchandising and promotions to serve Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ikea, Kroger and other top retailers.
“Henry has a proven track record of working in fast-paced, competitive environments and masterfully integrating marketing and communications that not only moves the needle to drive short term business objectives but position brands for longer-term success. His extensive leadership experience in field and corporate marketing with Burger King collaborating with franchisee partners along with his agency, vendor partner and client experience make him uniquely qualified to collaborate with all stakeholders to help us unlock our brand’s potential to drive significant growth and profitability, says Julio Ramirez, CEO of BurgerFi. “He has been working with us as a contractor since the beginning of the year and has already made significant contributions. I am excited about the impact he’ll have leveraging his experience, passion and commitment to take our brand and our business to new heights as our CMO.”
For nearly a decade, Gonzalez worked at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the preeminent ad agency of its time where he leveraged his experience working at Burger King to help lead Burger King’s US business during their tenure as Ad Age Client of the Decade. His agency experience also included leading teams working with top brands like MetLife, McDonald’s, Aspen Dental, Infiniti, Sam’s Club and others.
“I have been a huge fan of the brand as a consumer primarily because of the taste of the food and quality of the experience but also as a marketer because it’s so well positioned to capitalize on current trends. From a consumer standpoint, BurgerFi is the best kept secret in the fast-casual space,” Gonzalez says. “I’m thrilled to collaborate with this talented team to bring a more consumer-focused and data driven approach to drive greater awareness, engagement, growth and profitability. We have a tremendous opportunity to highlight our points of differentiation and showcase how our brand is aligned with consumer expectations for fresh, all natural, great tasting food ordered and served conveniently across an array of platforms. Focusing on the consumer is how we’ll deliver on our mission to redeFine how the world eats burger by enriching lives through the best better burger experience.”
Gonzalez has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida. He believes in community service and actively supports organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters as a Board Member, St. Hugh Grove Outreach Food Bank and Mission 22.
