Leading East African restaurant chain, Java House Africa, has appointed Priscilla Gathungu as the Group’s Chief Executive Officer.
Her tenure at Java has included a variety of leadership positions across the organization, including six years as the HR department’s director of human resources and a fruitful spell as the commercial director.
According to a LinkedIn post by the coffee shop, she later made the transition into Divisional Managing Director Foodscape where she has continuously created value and development for the company over the previous two years.
Priscilla holds a B.A. in Organization Management and Leadership and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Strategic Leadership from Concordia University-St. Paul in addition to her expertise, majoring in human resource management, and working with a variety of organizations, including American retailer Target.
Derrick Van Houten, who joined Java House Africa from KFC East Africa earlier last year, will no longer be in charge of the business under her leadership.
The Kukito brand, which specializes in grilled chicken, has a recently announced franchise concept, which Priscilla is expected to oversee.
The system helps foster growth while sparing the franchisor’s expansion capital. The franchisee typically pays the franchisor an upfront start-up and annual licensing fee in exchange for the privilege to use the brand.
With the new strategy, the restaurant, which was founded in Kenya, will join other well-known brands like Domino’s Pizza and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), among others, that have established bases in the nation using the franchising business model.
Six Kukito restaurants are now run by Java in Nairobi, with one more just opened in Machakos. The original location, which is located on Kimathi Street in the downtown business center, first opened its doors in 2019.
As part of its new strategy to quicken the pace of the nation’s expansion, the restaurant outlet will be able to open up to 30 fast food locations in the near future.
In addition to Kukito, Java House Group currently manages Planet Yogurt (PY), 360 Degrees Pizza, and Java eateries in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. They once had plans to establish businesses in Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Accra, and Lusaka.
