---
title: "Swig Hires Former Sonic Executive"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/77cb5572-3fe1-43f4-a880-4a75511039ff
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20250107_swig_hires_former_sonic_executive.html
category: "Beverage & juice"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Beverage & juice"
topics: ["People"]
published: 2025-01-07T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T17:14:56.251Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1555396273-367ea4eb4db5?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Swig Hires Former Sonic Executive

**TL;DR:** Swig hires Todd Smith, a former Sonic executive with nearly 20 years of restaurant business experience, as its chief commercial officer. Smith has held key roles with several major brands, including KFC, Wendy's, and Sonic.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2025-01-07. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20250107_swig_hires_former_sonic_executive.html).*

## Story

Smith joins Swig with nearly 20 years of restaurant business experience. He started his career at Yum! Brands in brand management and has held key roles with KFC, Wendy's, Sonic and Cafe Rio. Smith also served as an independent director on the board of directors for Potbelly Sandwich Works.

Smith was the president of Sonic Drive-in and successfully led the brand to record sales and profits, adding over $1 billion in total system sales growth in his five years with the brand. While at Sonic, he oversaw the integration of technology and digital communications.

“Todd has extensive industry experience and brings a dynamic energy to the team,” said Alex Dunn, CEO of Swig. “He’s been involved with restaurants at virtually every stage of the lifecycle, and we can’t wait to see how he elevates the Swig brand and helps lead Swig’s expansion across the United States.”

"I have been a huge fan of Swig for a number of years, and I have a household full of Swig fanatics. Joining Swig is one of the most exciting opportunities of my career,” said Todd Smith, chief commercial officer for Swig. “The energy around the brand - both from customers and from the internal team - is unlike anything I have ever experienced.”

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- brand expansion (topic)
- restaurant industry (topic)
- Wendy's (company)
- KFC (company)
- Yum Brands (company)
- Sonic (company)
- Swig (company)
- Potbelly Sandwich Works (company)
- Todd Smith (person)
- Alex Dunn (person)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20250107_swig_hires_former_sonic_executive.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/77cb5572-3fe1-43f4-a880-4a75511039ff).