PLANO, TEXAS — Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! Brands Inc., has promoted David Graves to president of Pizza Hut US, effective Jan. 1, 2022. He will succeed Kevin Hochman, who has been serving as interim president since 2019.

In his new role, Graves will be responsible for driving profitable same-store sales, franchise operations and overall performance for the US business.

Graves joined Pizza Hut in 2020 as chief brand officer and currently is general manager of Pizza Hut US. Prior to joining Pizza Hut, he spent several years at KFC US leading marketing strategy and was responsible for much of the food innovation credited in KFC’s turnaround. Prior to joining Yum! in 2016, he spent much of his career at Procter & Gamble, where he led innovation and insights for several large brands in the consumer packaged goods space.

“David has a well-deserved reputation for delivering results, repeatedly demonstrating his expertise in identifying solutions to business challenges that not only enhance the experience for customers, but also benefit restaurant economics, and I couldn’t be more pleased by his promotion,” said Aaron Powell, chief executive officer of Pizza Hut.

With Graves’ promotion, Hochman will return to his role as president and chief concept officer of KFC US.

“Kevin has delivered in a really meaningful and significant way, and I can’t thank him enough for his commitment and collaboration over the last two years leading two of our iconic brands in the US,” said David Gibbs, CEO of Yum! Brands. “We’re really pleased with Pizza Hut’s continued brand revitalization and transformation to a modern off-premises business in the US. I have all the confidence in David Graves — who has done an amazing job reinvigorating Pizza Hut’s innovation pipeline and bringing the brand forward to consumers in a way that’s really resonating — and believe Pizza Hut has an incredibly bright future.”