Pret A Manger has named Stefan Porter as its new chief supply chain officer as the food-to-go chain looks to support its global growth plans.

Porter joins the business from Azzurri Group, the owner of ASK Italian, Zizzi, Coco di Mama and Dave’s Hot Chicken, where he served as group commercial director.

During his time at Azzurri, he led the group’s commercial strategy across purchasing and supply chain, retail, ESG, energy procurement, quality, safety and technical functions.

Before joining the restaurant group, Porter spent eight years at Lidl GB, latterly as senior buying director, where he led several buying divisions and worked closely with the UK and international boards.

In the newly created role at Pret, he will oversee supply chain, logistics, buying, technical and sustainability across the business globally.

Pret A Manger chief executive Pano Christou said: “I’m excited to welcome Stefan to Pret. With his strong commitment to food quality, combined with his deep industry expertise and commercially minded approach, I believe he will be a great asset to us as we continue to grow the brand.”

Porter added: “I am excited to be joining the Pret team and supporting their ambitious plans. I’ve long been a customer and fan of Pret’s freshly made food and coffee and I look forward to bringing my skills, passion and experience to the business at this period of growth.”