Baja Fresh Hires New VP of Franchise Development and Real Estate

By: Baja Fresh | 5 Shares 230 Reads

Industry Veteran Joins Stellar Executive Team to Continue Business Growth

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, the California-based fast casual fresh Mexican chain, announced today that industry franchising and real estate veteran, Craig Hopkins, will be taking the reigns as vice president of franchise development and real estate for the company. Hopkins will be responsible for attracting quality franchise owners and leading growth efforts nationwide for Baja Fresh and La Salsa moving forward.

Hopkins joins the company with more than 24 years of franchise experience, most recently from CKE restaurants where he held positions between 1996 as director and vice president franchise development working, until joining Baja Fresh and La Salsa. He also worked as director of franchise development for A.F.C. Enterprises from 1993 to 1996 and manager and director of franchise development from 1984 to 1993 with Arby's Inc.

"Our franchised chains comprise a large amount of our restaurants," said James Walker, president, Baja Fresh. "We are excited to have an industry veteran like Craig join our team to lead strategic initiatives furthering our franchising and real estate development. His experience will be invaluable to the company as we continue to expand our restaurant chain with the addition of new Baja Fresh corporate and franchised run restaurants and La Salsas to our repertoire."

About Baja Fresh

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Baja Fresh operates or franchises 291 restaurants nationwide, all featuring its fresh Mexican-inspired food, made to order and served in a hurry.

Baja Fresh was named as the Platinum award-winning Mexican Chain in America by Restaurants & Institutions Consumer's Choice in Chains study in July 2007.

###