PUBLISHER'S VIEWPOINT
February 2005
Where Honor is Due

Over the years we’ve noticed that folks on the equipment and supplies side of our business don’t get a lot of accolades. Distribution pros are kinda the red-haired stepchild of foodservice, Gary Wilbers, of Wilbers Manufacturers’ Agents in Kansas City, Mo., once told me. Few people know what they do or how it gets done, he said.

So part of our mission through the years has been to help us all appreciate what the other guy does to help us do our jobs. And over the years, at other magazines, we’ve created a few awards programs to do that.

Comes now our Customer Choice Dealer Awards, which are quite different than anything we’ve done before. On the E&S side, there has never been a program that seeks the customers’ input on who does the best job. We think this program is particularly apt at this point in the development of the foodservice industry.

Frankly, dealers don’t get as much respect as they deserve from suppliers or customers. And we know the services and functions they perform often are underappreciated. Part of our strategy with the Customer Choice Dealer Awards is to get all of you thinking about what dealers do and how impossible it would be to do without the services they perform.

On the E&S side, there's never been an awards program that seeks the customers' input. Until now.

 So please, use the ballot on the cover of this issue, fill it out and mail or fax it back to us. (Our dealer and distributor friends don’t have the ballot.) Or, if it’s easier, go to www.fermag.com, click on “Awards” and cast your vote. Please only vote once.

While Brian, Jennifer and I were kicking around awards ideas, it also occurred to us that many people in this business give a great deal of time to the greater good of the industry without much recognition. They give of themselves on industry panels, spend hours on liaison committees, and work to keep all of us talking to each other. So, along with the Dealer Awards, we’re also launching the Industry Service Awards, to honor those who have spent their careers working for the greater good.

We’re asking the boards of directors at the leading associations to help us with this task, by nominating someone from their particular function. We’ll also choose an operator. The idea is to find individuals who have given significant time and energy not just to their business, function or association, but have worked in the wider arena of the foodservice E&S business.

We’d also love to hear from you. If you know someone deserving of an Industry Service Award, e-mail or call and we’ll take the person into consideration.

And because we do love parties, all these awards will be given out Friday, May 20, at the Sofitel Hotel in Chicago. We hope to see you there.

Cheers,

Robin Ashton
Publisher