Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2013 | Page 13

D-Lite-ful Leader
“Franchising is such a great place to work”
By Kerry Pipes

P

eter Holt received an early
Christmas present late last
year when Tasti D-Lite CEO
Jim Amos announced he
was stepping down and that Holt had
been selected to take the reins of the
25-year-old brand. But for Holt, the
moment also was bittersweet.
“Jim Amos has been there with me
since I first got into franchising back
in the 1980s,” says Holt. “He’s a dear
friend and mentor and I have enjoyed

Name: Peter D. Holt
Title: President and CEO
Company: Tasti D-Lite
Units/Brands: Tasti D-Lite: 57 units; Planet
Smoothie: 97 units
Age: 54
Family: Married, no children
Years in franchising: 27
Years in current position: Less than one

working alongside him all these years.”
Holt’s franchising career has taken
him from his first job with the IFA to
Brice Foods (I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!
and Java Coast) to Mail Boxes Etc. to a
stint with a private equity firm before
coming to Tasti D-Lite in 2007. Until
last year, he had served as COO at the
company, where he led the 2011 acquisition of Planet Smoothie and the
integration of the two brands.
Holt says his love of franchising was
a complete accident. “When I got out of
college I was sure I wanted to work in
policy analysis of U.S.-Latin American
relations based in Washington, D.C.,”
he says. Instead, he found himself a position at the IFA, and a love affair with
franchising blossomed.
“Franchising is such a great place to
work,” he says. “I call it a community,
not an industry.” He had no franchising
experience when he took the job in the
IFA’s membership department. The position allowed him to indulge his interest
in international work, while exposing
him to a business model he could immediately identify with, and would soon
thoroughly embrace. “When you talk
about a career-defining moment, that
was it for me,” he says.
Holt’s professional background has
allowed him to see franchising from
many different angles, and has provided
insights into franchises, franchisees,
products, vendors, and customers.
As president and CEO of Tasti DLite, Holt is continuing to oversee dayto-day operations as he’s done for the
past 5 years, but now he is also charged
with strategic planning initiatives. He’s
up for the task and says he believes the
brand is at a great crossroads.
“The combination of Tasti D-Lite
and Planet Smoothie provides a fantastic
building block for not only complementary day-part and product business, but
also allows us to develop in different
regions of the country where each of
the brands is anchored,” he says.
“We’re the premier ‘good for you
frozen treat’ company,” he says. “And

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