Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp, parent company of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurant chains, announced the appointment of restaurant turnaround veteran John W. Haywood  as chief executive officer. 

Last month the company announced that Perpetual Capital Partners and CR3 Capital, an investment affiliate of CR3 Partners, acquired the 97-unit soup, salad, and bakery restaurant chain. CR3 Partners is a a national turnaround and performance improvement firm.

Haywood, 53, is a Washington & Lee University and Culinary Institute of America graduate with over 20 years of senior management experience with several national restaurant companies.

He has been a hospitality industry turnaround specialist for the past decade in various private equity advisory and restaurant interim CMO and CEO positions. Earlier in his career, he served as Chief Concept Officer and Chief Marketing Officer for Carrols Corporation's $565 million Hispanic Restaurant Division, where he led brand strategy and growth of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana chains.

Previous assignments include advising Chef Bobby Flay on the creation and rollout of the Bobby's Burger Palace concept, interim CEO of Don Shula's Steakhouses, Vice President of Food & Beverage for the $300 million Black Angus chain, and leading research and development for Metromedia Restaurant Group. He has served on the Board of Directors of Black Angus Steakhouses, and Lessing's Hospitality, a New York-based portfolio hospitality company. His unique experience combines strategic brand development with deep marketing, culinary, operations and financial expertise.

"John is the perfect guy to take our unique brands to the next level," said Gene Baldwin, former interim CEO of Garden Fresh and member of the Board of Directors.  "He has a keen understanding of consumer insights, culinary trends, and operations management in addition to the financial acumen it takes to succeed in today's challenging environment," he added.

"Souplantation is America's first fresh salad and soup specialist and having grown up in California, I've long admired the Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes brands," Haywood said. "Our guests have remained so loyal during challenging times, and we now look forward to exceeding their expectations and earning their loyalty in every way," Haywood said. "I am especially honored to lead this San Diego-founded and based company, and our incredibly passionate, tenured and dedicated team members."