Refuel Operating Company has named Michael Farnick director of food-service strategy and innovation, a company spokesperson confirmed to C-Store Dive.
Farnick has served in food-related leadership roles with multiple convenience retailers over the past decade and has worked as a chef with various restaurants. He joins Refuel from fellow regional convenience retailer Nouria, where he was serving as senior category manager, according to his LinkedIn bio.
“Michael’s experience across convenience retail, category management, operations, procurement, and cross-functional leadership makes him the ideal person to help us drive long term growth and meaningful platform expansion,” said Jack Tilghman, senior director of foodservice for Refuel, in a statement. “His ability to understand how every department contributes to EBITDA is the kind of holistic thinking we need to scale successfully.”
Farnick was senior category manager with Georgia-based Enmarket for more than five years before it was acquired by Nouria in February. He also worked for two and a half years as director of foodservice with Enmarket.
Before joining Enmarket, Farnick spent more than two years as food and beverage category manager and corporate chef with Dash In, the c-store arm of Maryland-based Wills Group. He also worked briefly as a foodservice category manager with Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent of Circle K, and as a purchasing agent and field consultant with 7-Eleven for five years.
On the restaurant side, Farnick has worked as a corporate and executive chef at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, food broker Food Sales East and Firebirds Restaurant, according to his LinkedIn page.
“We all recognize that foodservice is no longer optional in the convenience store space,” said Tilghman. “The industry is leaning heavily into it, and so are we. As Refuel continues to invest in building a differentiated, proprietary foodservice strategy, it was critical for us to bring in a leader who not only understands food, but also knows how to connect all aspects of the business in a cohesive and scalable way.”
Refuel has made multiple leadership moves this year. Most notably, it appointed co-presidents Travis Smith and Jon Rier as co-CEOs in June, replacing Refuel founder Mark Jordan, who became board chairman. In July it named Justin Mitchell chief technology officer and Derek Leskovic chief financial officer.
