Keith Kelly

Vice President, Supply Management and Purchasing @Darden

I lead a supply chain team of professionals in distribution, logistics and purchasing who support Darden\'s global supply chain. This supply chain provides food products, along with capital equipment and smallwares to over 1900 company owned and operated casual dining restaurants across North America. I have responsibility for oversight of Supply Management (distribution) as well as Direct and Indirect Purchasing functions. This team is responsible for our foodservice distribution network, as well as deployment of all durable products to our restaurants. My responsibility includes leading a group of 3rd party Distributors and Lead Logistics Providers to effectively manage Darden’s North American foodservice supply chain across 18 redistribution and last mile distribution centers in the US and Canada. Additionally, the team supports deployment of all durable products, including smallwares and capital equipment while also managing our global importation and corporate transportation programs. In Purchasing, my team is responsible for the procurement of all Capital Equipment (furniture, fixtures, building materials, kitchen equipment, and decor) products for new restaurant construction, remodels, and replenishments needs for our 7 restaurant operating companies. This team also sources all Smallwares, Restaurant Supplies, Indirect spend and other services such as Linen, Pest Control, Waste Mgmt, Janitorial, Landscaping, etc to provide a competitive advantage to our restaurant teams. I also lead the work to support our International Supply Chain. This encompasses all product supply, sourcing, and import / export activities needed to ensure a seamless supply chain of both brand critical products and locally sourced alternatives to our franchisees around the world. Specialties: Supply Chain, Distribution, Logistics, Warehouse Management, Purchasing, Indirect Sourcing, Inventory Management, Importation, Acquisition Integration