Pepper Lunch Troy Hooper steps down as US chief

Pepper Lunch Troy Hooper is stepping down as chief executive of the Japanese teppanyaki chain's US and Canadian operations, moving to a strategic advisory role from 25 September.

Hooper joined in 2023 to lead growth across North America and is credited with deepening franchisee and supplier relationships as the brand tried to establish itself in a market it has long struggled to crack.

Pepper Lunch, founded in Japan in 1994, now runs more than 580 units across 16 countries, but its US presence remains tiny: just 11 restaurants in the United States and Guam, having peaked at higher numbers earlier in the 2020s before contracting.

Pepper Lunch would not be where it is in the United States today without Troy's leadership.

Group chief takes direct control

Yugo Tago, group chief executive of parent company Hot Palette Holdings Group, will personally take charge of US operations rather than immediately naming a dedicated replacement, with chief operating officer Mark Bailey continuing in his role.

"Pepper Lunch would not be where it is in the United States today without Troy's leadership, commitment and belief in the brand," Tago said, without detailing the reasons for the change.

The chain has set a target of nearly doubling in size globally by 2030, and executives have repeatedly described the US as the platform on which that expansion depends.

A market that has resisted the format

Pepper Lunch's build-your-own hot-plate format, common on high streets across Asia, has had a harder time finding an audience in the US, where fast-casual competitors are more entrenched and real estate costs are higher.

The leadership change comes in the same week that Boston's Pizza named a new president for its own shrunken US division, underlining how several international chains are reworking their American strategies at once.

Hot Palette has not said whether it will slow US store openings while the advisory transition takes place, or continue with sites already in the pipeline. Franchisees contacted by trade press said they had received no signal of disruption to supply chains or marketing support during the handover.