Cava has named John Ludeke chief marketing officer, effective Oct. 12, pulling the 17-year marketing veteran from outside the restaurant industry as the fast-casual Mediterranean chain pushes from 476 units toward 1,000 by 2030.

The company announced the hire Wednesday. Ludeke most recently served as chief brand officer at Dr. Squatch, the men's personal care brand, where he helped build it into a $500 million company before Unilever acquired it. Before that, he spent more than a decade at Monster Energy, including more than six years based in Shanghai and Seoul. His résumé also includes work with Adidas, Ford, Activision, Tencent, Sony and DJI.

The appointment signals the kind of marketing Cava wants as it scales: brand-building muscle proven in consumer packaged goods and energy drinks rather than restaurant-industry playbook experience. Dr. Squatch's growth from a direct-to-consumer soap startup into a half-billion-dollar acquisition target is the credential Cava's leadership highlighted most prominently.

"John is a proven builder of culturally relevant consumer brands and a thoughtful, passionate leader who knows how to turn brand belief into business momentum," co-founder and CEO Brett Schulman said in a statement. "One of the things that stands out about John is his ability to quickly understand the essence of a consumer brand and translate it into a meaningful marketing strategy that is relevant, distinctive, and true to the brand."

Ludeke replaces Andy Rebhun, who left Cava recently to become chief marketing officer at Panera Bread — a move that put one of fast casual's highest-profile marketers inside a bakery-café chain that has been working through its own brand repositioning.

The CMO change arrives at a demanding moment for the category. Chain restaurant sales slowed again in 2025, according to Technomic's Top 500 ranking, as consumers pulled back on dining out. Sectors such as coffee, beverages, snacks and chicken continued to grow while much of the rest of the industry contracted. A category-defining brand narrative has become a competitive necessity for chains trying to sustain traffic without leaning solely on discounting.

Cava has been one of the industry's standout growth stories, and doubling its unit count in roughly five years will require marketing that drives awareness in new markets — many of them far from the chain's original base. That is where Ludeke's international experience at Monster Energy, spanning Asia-Pacific postings, and his work with global brands become relevant: Cava's expansion will test whether a Mediterranean fast-casual concept can carry a consistent brand promise across increasingly diverse geographies.

"We have a unique, category-defining opportunity at Cava to bring the flavors, hospitality and generosity of the Mediterranean to even more people," Schulman said. "John brings the experience to help us do that, along with a leadership style grounded in curiosity, agility, positivity, and collective ambition. Those qualities reflect how we lead at Cava, and we're thrilled to welcome him to the Cava table."

Ludeke takes over a marketing organization at a chain whose growth targets leave little room for a slow start. Whether his CPG-style brand building can keep Cava's unit economics and consumer momentum aligned through a 2030 doubling will be one of the more closely watched marketing stories in fast casual over the next several years.