Zac Sulma Joins Paris Baguette as Chief Operating Officer To Drive Scale and Efficiency as the Brand Pursues 1,000 U.S. Locations
The bakery café’s newly appointed COO brings a person-first philosophy that prioritizes healthy operations and franchisee success as the heart of the brand’s long-term success.
For franchise brands, reaching the 100-unit mark is an important milestone. The 1,000-unit mark is even bigger, and it represents a shift from a rising star to a dominant market force. As Paris Baguette, the global bakery café franchise with over 4,000 locations worldwide and over 260 locations across the United States, works to establish 1,000 U.S. units by 2030, they have brought in Chief Operating Officer Zac Sulma to support the growth.
Sulma is both familiar with Paris Baguette’s leadership team and well-versed in driving operations for hospitality-focused brands.
“I know Darren [Tipton] and Nick [Scaccio] from the past, back when we were all navigating the complexities of operations at Bowlero,” he said. “I’ve seen how they operate and how they build culture, and that was a huge factor for me in my decision to join.”
As he steps into his role, Sulma is focused on both the practical aspects of Paris Baguette’s operations and the human side of the franchisee-franchisor relationship.
The Franchisee as the ‘Client’
Typically, the chief operating officer is someone focused on the practical demands of the business and the day-to-day success of the business’s operations. While Sulma is certainly focused on this aspect of his role, his philosophy puts the franchisees first. As a member of the home office, he sees his role not as one of direction but one of service.
“I am bringing a high level of operational excellence to the table, but I tie our franchisees’ success directly to my own,” he said. “My ‘client’ is my team and the franchisees. I will show them, each day, that they are truly important to how we operate on a daily basis. If they’re not winning, I’m not winning in my role.”
This perspective stems from a lifetime in the industry. The last decade-plus of Sulma’s experience was in operations, and he has been in hospitality since he was 15. He has lived all over the country holding a variety of roles, and this experience gave him a firsthand look at how different people approach support and service.
“Living all over the country was really important to understanding how different people work and how to effectively communicate with them,” he said. “And I understand that, for us to succeed as a brand, we must treat people’s needs as the priority, even if their needs must come above my own. People are the name of the game, and I embrace that mentality both in my personal life and in business.”
Minimizing Growing Pains as Paris Baguette Scales
Paris Baguette is in the midst of rapid growth across the U.S. With over 260 cafés operational and another 500-plus in development, Paris Baguette has a clear upward trajectory. While quick growth often brings hurdles, including communication bottlenecks, diluted support, and operational drift, Sulma’s commitment to franchisee success includes dedication to preventing these growing pains before they even start.
Sulma recognizes Paris Baguette’s strong foundation, and he looks forward to expanding upon that base to create even more scalable processes that ensure stability systemwide.
“We have to be process-centric,” he said. “My goal is to ensure we’re effectively communicating everything to the franchisees and, more importantly, eloquently explaining the ‘why’ behind our decisions. When we eliminate confusion, we support our owners in focusing more on what matters: running their bakery cafés.”
Supporting Growth While Honoring the Pioneers: The Right Way to 1,000
New openings are the pathway to 1,000, but Sulma emphasizes that his attention is on all owners, not just new ones.
“We must remember what and who got us to where we are today,” he said. “The franchisees who have already become established and are currently successful with the brand are just as important as the new ones we are trying to attract. We have to continue to serve them; we will not devote all of our energy to chasing the next opening.”
While maintaining and operating the current cafés is important, Sulma also has his eye on development within the ranks. By strengthening members of the support team, including district managers and other members of the operations team, Sulma aims to ensure that, as unit count rises, the level of individual attention and support each franchisee receives remains high.
Ultimately, the Paris Baguette leadership team is focused on reaching 1,000 U.S. units by 2030, but for Sulma, the number is less important than the entrepreneurs, team members, and neighborhood bakery cafés it represents. The growth goal isn’t a finish line to be crossed at any cost; it’s a byproduct of running a healthy, growth-oriented system.
“The number one goal from Darren and the rest of the leadership team is to pursue that 1,000-unit mark, but it’s more important that we do it effectively,” Sulma said. “For us, it’s not just about getting to 1,000 cafés. It’s about getting to 1,000 efficient, high-performing cafés. We are pursuing this growth while remaining committed to a high level of performance at both existing and new cafés as we grow.”
That focus on performance, Sulma says, has to stay rooted in the brand’s neighborhood feel and guest experience. “We’re keeping our focus on being that neighborhood bakery café that’s the heart of the community,” he said. “People are the most important part of this business. My team knows it, the franchisees will see it, and our guests will feel it.”