Social Responsibility

Global Franchise Group is an organization with heart and we are deeply committed to our corporate philanthropy and Charity of Choice, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). With the help of our customers, franchisees, team members and friends and family, we have proudly raised more than $2 million for LLS through our annual “A Bite for the Fight” campaign. A Bite for the Fight supports LLS’s Light The Night Walks, a powerful and unique fundraising program that brings together families and communities to honor blood cancer survivors, as well as those lost to the diseases. The campaign also includes patient outreach, engagement with families, special offers for supporters of LLS, and GFG team members serving on volunteer boards and committees across the country.

To see the impact of this program, please watch this video.

Global Franchise Group is a proud Silver winner of the International Franchise Association’s “Franchising Gives Back” program in the Enduring Impact category for our A Bite for the Fight campaign.

Franchising Gives Back logo
Hot Dog on a Stick Stompathon with Mario Lopez
GFG and LLS Leadership
GFG COO/CMO, Jenn Johnston, is honored by LLS
Pretzelmaker covered in LLS donation balloons
GFG plant team members
Pretzelmaker franchisee and customer

Annica Conrad

Annica Conrad
Chief Marketing Officer

Annica has more than 20 years of award-winning marketing experience and has been with GFG for 3 years. She joined the company from Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers where she was Vice President, Brand Development. In this role, Annica was responsible for the rebirth and growth in popularity of the 42-year-old eclectic brand through smart menu design and development, implementation of the Mellow Mushroom loyalty app and creation and rollout of its first online ordering system. Before her time with Mellow Mushroom, Annica was Vice President of Marketing for Mcalister’s Corporation and she spent the early part of her career at a prominent advertising agency in Mobile Alabama. She is graduate of Samford University in Birmingham where she earned her Bachelors in Marketing and MBA in Economics.

Sam Patterson
Chief Financial Officer

Patterson came to Global Franchise Group in April 2020 from FOCUS Brands where he served as Senior Vice President of Accounting. For the last eleven years, he was responsible for leading financials for Cinnabon, Carvel, Schlotzsky’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli, Auntie Anne’s and Jamba Juice. He directed the organization through the transfer and integration of all accounting back-office functions for Auntie Anne’s from Pennsylvania, McAlister’s Deli from Mississippi, and Jamba Juice from Texas to Atlanta and converted a brand-centric accounting structure into a shared services organization. Before his time with FOCUS, he was Senior Vice President & Corporate Controller for Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video (NASDAQ: MOVI & MVGR), Vice President and Corporate Controller for Republic National Cabinet Corporation, and Corporate Controller for Wolverine Tube, Inc. (NYSE: WLV). He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant, holds a master’s in business administration from Auburn University, and is a graduate of the University of Texas, Tyler.