TOP SUPPLY CHAIN LEADERS 2023
Lissette Gonzalez
SVP Global Supply Chain Officer Bloomin' Brands, Inc.
Lissette is someone who never thought of becoming a supply chain professional while growing up in Nicaragua. When she and her family immigrated to the United States while she was in middle school, her only goal was to survive, thrive, and make her family proud. Many years later, she entered the supply chain field when the Chief Supply Chain Officer at Office Depot saw potential in her and asked her to join a special project. Someone taking a chance on Lissette changed the trajectory of both her professional career and her life, so “paying it forward” is now part of her mantra. Lissette’s favorite activities are figuring out how to get her two busy teenagers to all their engagements, planning big family and friends’ reunions and vacations, and enjoying time outdoors. Her unique laughter always gives away her location!
Message to the Supply Chain Community
Our vision as a Supply Chain Team is to be the “quiet” partner our operators expect. A supply chain that delivers products that meet our company’s sourcing standards enables sales and profits so that our operators can focus on providing memorable experiences for our guests. It’s an honor to receive this award because it validates that we are embracing that vision and making tangible progress. It represents the talent, commitment, and heart of a complex ecosystem that embodies excellence every single day. It is an ecosystem that starts with our people at the Restaurant Support Center and extends to our supplier partners and their own supply chains.
The last few years have been a testament to the tenacity and resilience of supply chain professionals. We must build on this and continue to create business value by being master collaborators and orchestrators. Balancing the here and now with a transformative mindset – what we do now to ensure our companies continue to thrive in the future – has now become an expectation and we’re up for the challenge.
CASE STUDY
CENTER-CUT FILETS
“The filet, one of our top-selling steaks, is a premium cut with an exceedingly high guest expectation of it being a thick, juicy, tender, and flavorful steak. Our previous product specification drove operational complexity as it did not always have thickness uniformity. To achieve medium well to well-done cook temperatures, our restaurants would sometimes have to “butterfly” or cut through the filet horizontally and equally but not all the way through, and fan out creating a thinner steak in order to reach the desired cook temperature. We were committed to finding a way to improve the appearance, thickness, consistency, and taste of what we served.”
