Art D'Elia appointed COO of Dairy Queen USA, Canada

International Dairy Queen has appointed Art D’Elia as its new Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. and Canada. D’Elia will oversee nearly 275 employees, 3,700 franchise owners, and close to 5,000 DQ restaurants in these regions. D’Elia reports directly to the president and CEO, Troy Bader. His responsibilities include improving operations, training, and marketing to help increase sales and profits for DQ franchises. Bader praised D’Elia’s strategic vision and experience in the quick-service restaurant industry. Before joining Dairy Queen, D’Elia worked at Domino’s Pizza for seven years. He led the international business and served as the chief marketing officer. He also held senior marketing positions at Danone Dairy and PepsiCo. D’Elia expressed excitement about joining DQ. He has long admired the brand and is eager to work with franchise owners to grow the business. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and will work from the company headquarters in Minneapolis. Dairy Queen, based in Minneapolis, operates over 7,700 restaurants in more than 20 countries and is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.