Leading strategic communications and government affairs firm The Glover Park Group (GPG) announced that Ben Famous has joined the firm as a vice president in the firm’s New York City office. Famous will work on the food and agriculture team within the strategic communications division, providing strategic and media counsel for the team’s growing portfolio of clients.
Famous comes to GPG from CAVA, the flagship brand of a growing food platform that includes more than 90 fast-casual restaurants, a full-service chain, and a nationally distributed line of consumer-packaged goods. As head of strategic communications and brand marketing at CAVA, Famous led media and public relations, customer experience, brand development, and partnerships. During his time with the brand, Famous also served as a strategic leader in CAVA’s acquisition of Zoës Kitchen—a 250-unit Mediterranean fast-casual with restaurants stretching coast to coast.
Previously, Famous built and led the first in-house communications and public relations team for fast-casual chain Sweetgreen—focusing on message and strategy development, brand positioning, and the creation of the brand’s social impact voice. Famous helped lead the brand’s signature Sweetlife Collaboration Series, which included partnerships with James Beard Award-winning chefs and Grammy Award-winning artists. During his tenure, he earned key placements for the brand in top tier publications and secured Sweetgreen’s first inclusion in Fast Company’s The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies award.
“Ben’s impressive consumer, corporate, and policy communications background makes him a fantastic talent to add to GPG’s growing food and agriculture practice,” said Grant Leslie, Managing Director. “We look forward to tapping into his insights and experience for our clients.”
Famous also spent nearly six years in the U.S. Senate culminating as communications director and national press secretary to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. During his time on the committee, Famous helped to lead messaging and communications strategy around the passage of one of the most contentious food policy fights of the past decade—the nation’s first ever mandatory requirement for the label of genetically modified (GMO) foods.
