Le Duff America, the Dallas-based subsidiary of global French bakery-cafe powerhouse Groupe Le Duff, has named Julie Hauser-Blanner as its first U.S.-based president to lead the U.S. launch of Brioche Doree, the world’s leading French-style fast food brand.
Hauser-Blanner, a restaurant industry veteran with more than 20 years of operations experience, held multiple leadership roles at Bloomin’ Brands, including vice president of global operations at Outback Steakhouse and regional vice president at Bonefish Grill. She most recently led the food service business at Bass Pro Shops.
“Julie has a strong track record in domestic and international operational excellence, making her an outstanding choice to lead the U.S. launch of our legacy Brioche Doree brand,” says Le Duff America CEO Olivier Poirot. “She is also a very enthusiastic developer of people who strongly believes in creating and nurturing a highly motivated team dedicated to achieving ambitious goals and results, which is imperative as we recreate the brand for the U.S. market.”
Brioche Doree, founded in 1976 by Louis Le Duff in Brest, France, offers uniquely Parisian-style and urban French cuisine, with freshly baked breads and pastries and housemade sandwiches, soups and more. With more than 500 international locations, it serves more than 300,000 guests daily.
“Now is the perfect time to introduce American audiences to Brioche Doree because it offers fresh, hand-prepared, authentic food for the way people want to eat today,” says Hauser-Blanner. “My top priority is to make this iconic global brand relatable to the U.S. consumer while maintaining the highest standards of guest experience and exceptional food quality.”
The company, which has a handful of small-format, franchised Brioche Doree airport locations in several American states, plans to open three to six full-size corporate Brioche Doree locations in two urban markets in order to develop a U.S. brand identity. It will then launch a franchising initiative to expand the brand, following Groupe Le Duff’s international model.
