Pollo Campero, the Guatemalan fast food chicken giant, has named a new leader of its Dallas-based U.S. business.
The company announced this week that Julio Sánchez, an industry veteran who most recently served as an executive with CKE Restaurants, the parent company of brands including Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., is the new CEO of its U.S. operation.
“Julio combines deep operational expertise with sound business judgment and a proven record of delivering results,” José Gregorio Baquero, the global CEO of CMI Foods, Pollo Campero’s parent company, said in a statement. “He is the right leader to guide Campero into its next stage of growth.”
Sánchez takes over as Pollo Campero continues its yearslong push into the roughly $500 billion U.S. fast food market. The company, which was founded in Guatemala in the early 1970s, opened its first U.S. restaurant in Los Angeles in 2002 and established its U.S. headquarters in Dallas in 2007.
A couple of years ago, executives said the brand was planning to reach 250 restaurants in the U.S. by 2028. It currently has more than 150 U.S. restaurants, including recent additions in Manhattan and Rhode Island. The chain has several locations around D-FW.
The restaurant serves various chicken dishes, including a fried spicy chicken sandwich and roasted chicken bowls, as well as sides such as yucca fries, “campero beans” and sweet plantains.
“I was immediately drawn to Campero’s heritage, sense of hospitality and, of course, flavor,” Sánchez said this week in a statement. He also alluded to the brand’s expansion efforts, adding that he was committed “to putting our restaurant team members and guests at the forefront to ensure a memorable experience every time they come to our table.”
Sánchez, who also has previous leadership experience at Pizza Hut, Burger King and Church’s Chicken, replaces Luis Javier Rodas, who retired from the company this month after working for CMI for more than 25 years. Rodas had served as Pollo Campero’s U.S. CEO since 2018.
Pollo Campero’s U.S. headquarters is located on Park Central Drive in North Dallas. Corporación Multi Inversiones, or CMI, is based in Guatemala City.
