---
title: "Farmer Boys Promotes David Wetzel To President And Chief Operating Officer"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d3fce8e3-1f71-4576-9865-a9a60d404a86
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20200609_farmer_boys_promotes_david_wetzel_to_president_and.html
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
topics: ["People"]
published: 2020-06-09T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:33:28.787Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1504674900247-0877df9cc836?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Farmer Boys Promotes David Wetzel To President And Chief Operating Officer

**TL;DR:** Farmer Boys promotes David Wetzel to President and Chief Operating Officer, replacing Karen Eadon, who retires after 40 years in the restaurant industry. Wetzel will be responsible for driving overall brand strategy, corporate and franchised development, and restaurant performance.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2020-06-09. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20200609_farmer_boys_promotes_david_wetzel_to_president_and.html).*

## Story

In his new role as President and COO, Wetzel will be responsible for driving overall brand strategy, corporate and franchised development, and restaurant performance. Wetzel joined the Farmer Boys team in January 2020 as senior vice president of operations, where he oversaw systemwide restaurant operations and field execution and helped to define the strategic direction for the Farmer Boys brand. Before joining Farmer Boys, Wetzel held executive roles at Del Taco Restaurants, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, El Pollo Loco and Taco Bell.

“I am truly humbled and excited to be leading this legacy brand. In the last three months, I have had the great privilege to watch true leadership from Karen while we have navigated through this unprecedented challenging time for both the world and the restaurant industry,” said Wetzel. “I have big shoes to fill in this new position, but I will work fervently alongside our talented team, franchisees and suppliers to continue Farmer Boys’ calculated growth plan while building the next chapter of hospitality for Farmer Boys guests and team members.”

Eadon joined Farmer Boys in 2014 as chief marketing officer and was promoted to president and COO in 2015. Under her leadership, Farmer Boys opened 12 new restaurants, oversaw a systemwide restaurant remodeling program, improved internal systems and processes to enable the brand to scale more efficiently, implemented a back-of-house inventory and data management system, upgraded its management team and overall talent pool, and strengthened its presence and dominance as a fast casual competitor.

Eadon commented, “I have been truly blessed to have fulfilled so many dreams over the past 40 years, and I leave Farmer Boys with countless and fond memories. I have every bit of confidence in Dave’s ability to continue leading the brand in the right direction and to allow Farmer Boys to reach new guests in both new and existing markets. He has years of proven operational experience that will take Farmer Boys to new heights.”

Founded in 1981, Farmer Boys® is a farm-to-table fast casual restaurant chain serving award-winning burgers and all-day breakfast, stacked sandwiches, hand-chopped salads, and signature hand-breaded zucchini sticks and onion rings. At Farmer Boys, Farm Food Ain’t Fast Food®. Farmer Boys is annually recognized with ‘Best Of’ food awards, voted by consumers who value generous portions of farm fresh food at a fair price.

The burger concept has also been recognized by notable industry publications, including being named one of Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers & Shakers. Farmer Boys currently operates restaurants in California and Nevada.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- restaurant industry (topic)
- fast casual (topic)
- Taco Bell (company)
- FastCasual (publication)
- Del Taco (company)
- executive promotion (topic)
- El Pollo Loco (company)
- Farmer Boys (company)
- The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (company)

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Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20200609_farmer_boys_promotes_david_wetzel_to_president_and.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d3fce8e3-1f71-4576-9865-a9a60d404a86).