Church's Chicken names new chief executive officer

Church's Chicken's board of directors has announced the appointment of Mel Deane as the company's CEO, effective immediately.

For the last 10 years, Deane has worked closely with many of the companies owned by Friedman, Fleischer & Lowe (FFL), a San Francisco-based private equity company and owner of Church's. He has held senior leadership positions in many of their portfolio companies, most recently as CEO of Discovery Foods, the leading manufacturer of Asian branded frozen foods.

Since August, Deane has been executive vice president and general manager of US Operations for Church's Chicken.

Deane replaces Harsha Agadi as CEO.

Agadi will remain involved with the company as an active member of the board of directors.

Church's Chicken has more than 1,700 locations worldwide in 22 countries, with system sales approaching US$1.2 billion.