Jeremiah’s Italian Ice’s founder is stepping down and Michael Keller will be taking over as CEO.
The founder of Jeremiah’s Italian Ice is stepping down from the CEO role as the frozen treat franchise continues to accelerate growth.
Jeremy Litwack, who launched Jeremiah’s in 1996, will become chairman of the brand’s soon-to-be-formed board of directors, while Michael Keller moves into the chief executive position. Keller had been serving as interim CEO and officially took over in May, just months after Jeremiah’s opened its 100th store.
“Jeremy was very aware that 100 units may be a critical inflection point,” said Keller. “He also had the self-awareness to know that it may not necessarily be what he wanted to do in terms of the day-to-day managing and growth of Jeremiah’s.”
Michael Keller.
Litwack is still very involved, Keller added, and the two talk “at least two times a week.”
Keller has worked mostly in marketing, starting out with Nestle for several years before he moved on to Baskin-Robbins for four years. After a few layoffs and job changes, he spent almost 10 years as chief marketing officer for Dairy Queen.
“CMOs in a franchise chain usually don’t last very long,” he said. “But I managed to hang in there for 10 years and I worked for some great people.”
After that decade, Keller sought more management experience. A bit of soul searching, the writing of a children’s book titled “The Legend of Jet the Gerbil” and a failed startup business later, Keller connected with the Jeremiah’s team in the winter of 2022.
Most Jeremiah’s locations are in the Southeast—the brand is based in Orlando—which means plenty of travel for Keller, who lives in Minneapolis. He balances time in Florida and back home in order to do his job effectively, even when half a country away.
“I go down to Orlando two to three weeks a month,” said Keller. “When I’m not down there, I’m in their hair over phone or Zoom.”
Jeremiah’s has been focused on franchisee growth. The brand opened its 100th location this year and continues to add more.
Keller’s main goal is to continue growth for a concept that’s only been franchising since 2019. In order to help do this, Keller wants to create a franchise advisory council similar to those he worked with at Dairy Queen and Baskin-Robbins.
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“It’s very important to have a robust franchise advisory council system,” said Keller. “As a franchisor, it’s really hard to build your brand without the advice and support of franchisee leadership.”
The council is designed to help with growth through communication between the support center and Jeremiah’s franchisees around the United States.
Like with the promotion of Julianna Voyles, who started as a server and now is senior director of franchise operations, Keller is also working on strengthening the infrastructure of the support center via new hires. Erin Buono, formerly of Sonic Drive-In, is the first director of research and development, and Adam Hing, who brings experience from Ruth’s Chris, Bloomin’ Brands and Darden Restaurants, will serve as supply chain director.
“Ninety-nine percent of our development going forward is through franchised locations,” said Keller. “They will be the engine of our growth.”
Opening a Jeremiah’s franchise costs between $324,567 to $696,000 for a traditional location. The average unit volume for 2022 was $576,482.