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Canadian Trailblazer: Don Robinson, President and CEO, CARA
By Steven Chester
December 22, 2011
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 Businessman from head to toe, Don Robinson’s unique take on the restaurant industry stems from his years of corporate travel abroad. His initial globe-trotting career eventually brought him back full circle to Toronto, where he has become a key figure in the redevelopment and growth of Canadian restaurant brand icon CARA.
As a graduate of the University of Guelph, Robinson began his foray into foodservice working in bars and restaurants while earning his Bachelor of Commerce degree. After taking some time to travel upon completing his education, working in foodservice throughout, he began his career in a general management and marketing capacity with Nabisco Brands, which followed an over two-decade stint with Mars Incorporated, a world-leader in many well-known confectionary, food and pet care brands.
“I spent 23 years with Mars Incorporated all over the world: Canada, Latin America, Australia, Asia Pacific, the U.S., and I was a long way from the hospitality industry,” recalls Robinson. “I moved back to Canada in 1998 and joined the board of CARA in 2000. I finally came back to the hospitality industry and loved what I saw. The company went private in 2004, and I became President and CEO in 2006.”
Robinson’s travels abroad have had an impact on a local level.
“You certainly have sensitivity to different people’s needs,” explains Robinson. “The various cuisines around the world have been very distinct for so long, but in fact they are wafting on our plates into one. In Canada, there’s a huge advantage that we have because we are such a mosaic in the sense of diversity. Toronto is one of the most diverse cities in the world.”
CARA is a 128-year-old company that owns iconic brands Swiss Chalet Rotisserie & Grill, Harvey’s, Kelsey’s, Montana’s and Milestone’s Grill & Bar. Founded in 1883, the company began as The Canada Railway News Company and was originally in the business of selling newspapers, magazines and confectionary to the travelling public. CARA went on to open refreshment rooms at hotels and hubs along the rail line and opened its first Swiss Chalet in Toronto in 1954, with Rotisserie Chicken as the only entrée.
CARA went public in 1968, with the company’s original owners, the Phelan family, maintaining the majority of shares. The company ventured outside of foodservice on a number of occasions and began dabbling in institutional catering in the early 90s.
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The Phelan family bought back CARA’s public stock in 2004, once again making it a private company. That year, the company underwent a major transformation and began to narrow its focus to restaurants by selling off all other associated business like airline services and food distribution.
“We sold those businesses so that we could really focus on restaurants,” says Robinson. “Within the restaurant area, in 2006, we basically had five restaurant companies under one roof, each running their businesses very differently. We now have one restaurant company with five brands, where everything is done the same way, and we are commonly united in the pursuit of perfect guest experiences around the call to action ‘all of our guests must leave happy.’”
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CARA is known for its unique corporate culture. The company’s head office in Vaughan, Ont., is completely open, with no walls between employees - including senior management like Robinson.
“We used to be in a much more formal office structure with the brands operating on separate floors,” Robinson explains. “It was very stiff for a restaurant company. We’re all about people and interaction and communication. We’re in a completely open office – there are no walls. It speeds up the sense of teamwork; it speeds up the sense of camaraderie; it speeds up communication. It’s a restaurant company, and we do have fun.”
CARA has close to 700 restaurants and 26,000 employees across the system. Robinson explains that the company focuses heavily on people development, with the goal to push and promote from within the company.
Robinson feels the restaurant industry should position itself as a driver to the Canadian economy, and expressed his appreciation for CRFA’s recent event - Summit on Parliament Hill - a forum for foodservice industry leaders and MPs about the central role restaurants play in Canada’s economy, as well as the polices that affect our $61 billion industry.
“I believe that manufacturing in this country has diminished as a result of the strengthening dollar,” says Robinson. “There’s a tremendous opportunity for this industry to reposition itself and become an employment destination of choice, more so than it has in the past. As an industry, we need to reposition ourselves to be a great place to work, and in doing so, also reposition the industry in terms of how the government looks at it.
“We employ more Canadians than most any other industry, and yet we don’t do an awful lot to promote the positive aspects of actually getting involved in the industry. Most people in Canada have been touched by foodservice in one way or another.”
Robinson lives in Toronto and has two children, a son and a daughter. His daughter is a graduate of the Queen’s School of Business, and his son, who also is at the Queen’s School of Business is in his final year. Both children grew up globally.
“I think that having lived in all of those places, and my kids see this too, you really realize what a great country Canada is to live in,” says Robinson. “Unless you get that time away, it’s easy not to understand or realize how great Canada is. Canada, from my perspective, is the best country in the world to live in.”
More Canadian restaurant industry profiles:
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