A New Growth Strategy: Taco Bell Operator Spices Things up with a Shot of 7 Brew

Name: Joey Pierson
Title: CEO & CFO
Company: Tacala Companies
No. of units: 381 Taco Bell, 38 7 Brew
Age: 62
Family: Daughter, Abby, and son, Nathan
Years in franchising: 24
Years in current position: 5

Joey Pierson’s job has taken a turn in recent years. The CEO and CFO of Tacala Companies oversees nearly 400 Taco Bell dips into sentence across seven southern states, primarily in Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee. Now, he’s leading a bold move into the fast-growing beverage segment. 

Pierson has added 36 units of 7 Brew, the drive-thru coffee and energy drink franchise that has surged in popularity among Gen Z consumers. 

“We’ve always kicked the tires about adding other brands, and 7 Brew came along at exactly the right time,” Pierson says. “When I visited their corporate headquarters in Arkansas, I couldn’t fully capture its energy or culture in words. The customer engagement is incredible. Team members use tablets to take orders outside and build real connections. Pair that with an innovative caffeine and energy drink menu, and it’s clear why the brand is scaling so quickly.” 

7 Brew went from 38 stores in 2022 to more than 320 by the end of 2024. It now has more than 470 locations nationwide. Tacala has built 29 new stores since joining with 7 Brew in 2022, and Pierson hopes to reach 200 total units by 2030. 

He has been at the center of Tacala’s growth over his 25-year tenure. Before coming to the company, he spent 15 years at the public accounting firm Ernst & Young, where he met Tacala’s founders Dick Reese and Don Chareeb. He was hired as CFO in 2001 before serving as co-CEO alongside Tim Morrison from 2017 until Morrison’s retirement in 2022. Tacala has added more than 200 Taco Bell locations during Pierson’s time with the group.  

He says private equity investment has shifted the restaurant franchise landscape and unlocked Tacala’s accelerated growth. Altamont Capital Partners acquired the company in 2012, providing the capital to fuel both acquisitions and development. Pierson estimates that half of Tacala’s expansion during this period has come from new builds and half from strategic acquisitions. 

Altamont’s backing will remain essential as Tacala continues to grow within both the Taco Bell and 7 Brew systems. Alongside expansion, Pierson is focused on building the company’s next generation of leadership amid several forthcoming retirements. He also has the ambitious goal of being the top franchise group in the nation while maintaining an unwavering commitment to Tacala’s long-standing service-forward mission. 

“Our goal is to be the premier multi-brand franchise group in the country,” Pierson says. “We’ll achieve that by growing both brands responsibly and by investing in the strongest teams possible. Development will drive the future of 7 Brew, but we won’t allow growth to get in the way of being the employer of choice. We will always take care of our employees and offer the best benefits in the industry. We have always been here to serve, and that’s not going to change.”  

PERSONAL 

First job: I worked behind the counter and checked in customers at our family-owned motel in Monroeville, Alabama, when I was 10 years old.  

Formative influences/events: Gary Waters, professor of accounting at Auburn University, and Don Ghareeb, co-founder of Tacala. Waters took an interest and believed in me, and he helped me get my first job. Ghareeb said he would teach me how to be a franchisee if I improved Tacala’s business after joining the company. He served as a mentor to me.  

Key accomplishments: We have made several acquisitions over the past 20 years and successfully transitioned from being privately owned to being backed by private equity. When we found Altamont Capital, it was a major accomplishment for the company in terms of new development. It gave us the infusion of capital and the growth strategy we needed. Since partnering with Altamont, half of our new franchises have come through acquisition and half through development. 

Biggest current challenge: Dealing with commodities inflation and consumer fatigue. I think both are shared throughout the restaurant industry and in the current economy as a whole. Interest rates remain high. 

Next big goal: Finalize the transition of Tacala to next-generation leadership. We have several people who will be retiring soon, so we want to expand the depth of our leadership so that there will be enough leaders for the next generation. 

First turning point in your career: Leaving the security of corporate accounting to come to a franchise organization that had expanded very quickly without an expanded infrastructure. 

Best business decision: The decision to join Tacala. 

Hardest lesson learned: You can’t please everyone, so don’t be afraid to make the tough decisions. When I was with Ernst & Young, there were people who were there for too long, and they didn’t work out. You have to be who you are and be flexible. If it isn’t going to work out, you need to make the difficult decision to cut ties. 

Work week: Our business is 24/7, so it’s hard to define a workday, let alone a work week. 

Exercise/workout: Oops, forgot to work this into my schedule. 

Best advice you ever got: Don Ghareeb told me sometimes your first loss is your best loss.  

What’s your passion in business? Helping others succeed and creating opportunities for growth. If people are going to make the effort, I am going to help them grow. That is why I am in business.  

How do you balance life and work? I’m not sure I’ve figured this one out. 

Guilty pleasure: Auburn basketball. 

Favorite book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, someone who is also from Monroeville, Alabama. 

Favorite movie: “Caddyshack.” 

What do most people not know about you? I was born in California. Most people think I have been in Alabama my whole life. 

Pet peeve: Having to follow up on a project when it is past due. 

What did you want to be when you grew up? A professional bowler. 

Last vacation: The Bahamas for Thanksgiving in 2025. I’m a big fan of The Atlantis.  

Person you’d most like to have lunch with: Kenny Chesney.

MANAGEMENT 

Business philosophy: Hire people who will challenge your capabilities and thought processes.  

Management method or style: Collaborative and hands-off. I love the ability to hear ideas and help someone develop, but I do not like to micromanage people. 

Greatest challenge: Letting go of things I like to do so that others can grow in their abilities. When you are driven, it is human nature to do the things you do well and like to do. If you are not willing to give up things, you are not going to grow. Letting go is not a bad thing. You can then take a broader- based view of running the business.  

How do others describe you? Affable, curious, and driven. 

Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? Don Ghareeb of Tacala, who taught me a great deal about franchising. There have been others in my career whom I’ve gravitated to. I’ve picked their brains for good advice and counsel.  

One thing you’re looking to do better: Continue to let go of decision-making so that others will grow.  

How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: I’m not a micromanager. They have the room to make decisions on their own. I would much prefer to hear what they think and why instead of telling them how to do something. 

How close are you to operations? While I am not in the field on a regular basis, I am very familiar with challenges and wins in the field. I spend a lot of time with our president and COO. I keep up with the scores that the brand uses to measure our performance.  

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Brand building, including marketing and asset design, and operations systems. 

What you need from vendors: Honesty and commitment to excellence. 

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? Our marketing strategy has not changed. Taco Bell was built on a value platform, so the brand remains relevant during these challenging economic times. 7 Brew is also a more affordable coffee option. 

How is social media affecting your business? Social media makes it easier to connect with our teams and customers. We use our platform to promote our culture, including our involvement in the community. The challenges are online reviews where we cannot directly address customer dissatisfaction. 

In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? It has been limited so far, but I believe it will help with efficiencies in the future. 

How do you hire and fire? Our team holds people accountable. People’s actions often dictate when they can no longer fit within our organization. If we have to let someone go, it is usually good for both sides. 

How do you train and retain? We established Tacala Leadership University to help our top organizational and restaurant leaders grow professionally and personally.  

How do you deal with problem employees? I trust and support my team in their decisions. We generally give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t want to fire people. When we do have to make that decision, we have to be consistent in how we fire people across the board. 

Fastest way into your doghouse: Don’t do what you say you’re going to do. 

BOTTOM LINE 

Annual revenue: $875 million. 

Goals over the next year: We’d like to increase the customer counts in our restaurants/stands. Our primary area of growth is with 7 Brew as the brand continues to explode while also continuing Taco Bell’s growth. We are planning on a lot of new stand and store development and investing in our people. 

Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Revenue, EBITDA, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement. 

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? To have 200 7 Brew locations by 2030. In the next five years, I would like to be the premier multi-brand franchisee in America. I have the same goal for the next 10 years but probably with additional brands. That isn’t just being the largest franchisee, but to be an employer of choice and developer of careers and talent.  

Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? They are both in the restaurant industry but in different categories. We are very good at running quick-serve restaurants. 

How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, and your customers? Food cost inflation has exceeded our expectations for the past three years, putting pressure on the margins as we balance maintaining our important position as a value leader in both the QSR sandwich and coffee categories.  

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? Not in the majority of our markets, but there are some pockets of growth such as Texas and eastern Tennessee. 

How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? We’re careful about passing on rising costs to our customers, but we need to take strategic price increases throughout the year. Fortunately, we have been able to provide at least cost-of-living adjustments for our employees. We did not freeze compensation during Covid-19. Ideally, with a focus on lower turnover, we will gain productivity. 

How do you forecast for your business? We start from the store/stand level up, layering in our expectations for sales comp, inflation, etc., and then roll in our expected development to establish our overall forecast. 

What are the best sources for capital expansion? A combination of cash flows and development lines. 

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? In 2012, Altamont Capital Partners backed our management team when our founder, Don Ghareeb, sold his family’s interest in Tacala. We still have Altamont leading our private equity investment in our brands. On the Taco Bell debt side, we went from a Term Loan A syndicate with 14 banks to the Term Loan B debt market in 2018 to better meet our growth and return needs. On our 7 Brew debt side, we utilize a Term Loan A syndicate currently with a combination of five national and local banks. 

What are you doing to take care of your employees? This is a priority of ours. We have robust incentive programs, high-level 401(k) matching, Tacala Employee Assistance Plan through our health insurance provider, and post-secondary education scholarships for team members. We introduced the Tacala Ownership Pool program as well as an employee relief program, Star Fund, in 2025. 

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? Driving top line is the best way to offset increasing costs. Fortunately, we have not experienced significant labor inflation in the past couple of years, which has helped us maintain margins. 

What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? Tariffs have had some nominal impact on our business from a capital expenditures and store-level cost perspective. 

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? Through a bonus plan, annual top-performing manager trips, and an awards dinner at our annual leadership conference.  

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? I currently don’t have a plan to exit. I am working with our senior leadership to ensure we are developing our next generation of leadership so that when the time comes, we will have the team in place to continue in the future.