In This Section:
Irinox Debuts U.S. Distributorship
AFC Completes Sale of Church's Chicken
Captain D’s Sails Under New Flag
More New Faces in High Places
Ozon: All Kids, All the Time
Got News?
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Hatco Corp. | Regulatory ReportSponsor: APW Wyott Innovations
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Irinox Debuts U.S. Distributorship
Big news from Irinox: Katia Daros, sales and marketing manager, and all employees of Irinox Italy, are proud to announce the opening of Irinox USA. The company, a distributorship for its Italian parent, will be headed by Ira Kaplan and based in Avon, Mass.
Irinox USA will be responsible for distributing the Irinox family of blast chillers and shock freezers, the widest available on the market today. The products have been engineered for the North American market.
Irinox Italy is based in Conegliano, with additional offices in Australia, Germany and the U.K.
Contact Irinox USA at 508/436-6484, or online at www.irinox.com.
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AFC Completes Sale of Church's Chicken
It’s official: Church’s Chicken is now part of the Crescent Capital Investments flock.
AFC Enterprises announced the completion of the $390 million sale of Church’s on Dec. 29. The move is the latest step in the Atlanta fast food chain’s long-term strategy of focusing on Popeye’s, its main brand.
Crescent Capital, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, gains about 1,250 domestic and 300 international Church’s stores.
Harsha Agadi has been tapped as Church’s new CEO. Agadi’s 20-year foodservice industry background includes executive positions at Domino’s Pizza and Little Caesar’s Pizza. Church’s was previously led by Hala Moddelmog.
Section sponsored by Manitowoc Foodservice Group
Captain D’s Sails Under New Flag
Captain D’s, the Nashville, Tenn., seafood chain, sails under new ownership.
Equity firms Charlesbank Capital Partners, Boston; and Grotech Capital Group, Timonium, Md.; acquired the chain in December from Dallas-based Lone Star Capital in a transaction said to be valued at $150 million. Lone Star Capital had acquired Captain D’s in 2002.
Grotech is no stranger to the restaurant business. In 1999, the firm bought Long John Silver’s, paired it with A&W Restaurants, then sold the pair to Tricon Global Restaurants (now Yum!) in ’02.
Captain D’s now boasts some 580 locations, primarily in the south.
Section sponsored by Manitowoc Foodservice Group
More New Faces in High Places
Top executive spots continue to change nameplates. This time ‘round, Component Hardware, DI Foodservice, Foodservice Equipment Engineering and TriMark have all acquired new presidents or senior v.p.’s in recent weeks.
First up, Component Hardware Group of Lakewood, N.J., has brought in Mike Orlando to serve as business unit manager of the company’s new Saniguard division. Saniguard plumbing and hardware products use antimicrobial technology to inhibit growth of bacteria and microbes. Orlando was formerly managing director of corporate marketing for A.J. Antunes & Co.
At Foodservice Equipment Engineering in Monroe, N.C., Tom Hotard joins the team as new president and CEO. Hotard, who’s logged more than 20 years of engineering and management experience, served most recently as president of the Southbend Division of Middleby Corp. He will oversee sales, customer service, technical services and dealer and chain sales. He fills the shoes of Arley Mead, who retired at the end of December.
And over at DI Foodservice Cos., Jackson, Miss., Bill Strenglis has been named president by CEO Ralph Coppola. The 30-year industry vet comes to DIFC from Mrs. Smith’s Bakeries, a $650 million former operating division of Flowers Foods, where he most recently served as president and COO. DIFC's Groen, Randell and Avtec brands supply equipment for steam technology, cook-chill production systems, refrigeration, ventilation and air handling systems.
Meanwhile, TriMark USA’s latest coup is the signing on of Bob Collins, former president of U.S. Foodservice’s Contract and Design Division. Collins joins the South Attleboro, Mass., design services, equipment and supplies company as senior v.p. He’ll oversee TriMark United East’s contract initiatives, including equipment and interior design. Before TriMark and U.S. Foodservice, Collins served at Rykoff-Sexton.
Ozon: All Kids, All the Time
Kid’s menus? A dime a dozen! Kiddy meals? Keep ‘em! The time is right for a kid-focused restaurant serving fun (but good-for-you) food, and that restaurant would be Ozon. The new concept zooms straight in on the five-to-‘tweens market, specializing in pressed sandwiches, waffles and dual-flavor smoothies
Currently three Ozon stores are open for business, in Edison, N.J., and Staten Island, N.Y. Up to three company-owned stores are expected to open in 2005. The company is also negotiating area development deals for the east coast; setting up licensing agreements with up to 100 Kahala Corp. franchisees; and testing locations at two Exxon/Mobil C-stores in New Jersey.
The Ozon equipment lineup includes proprietary Tosti/Wafflo sandwich presses, convection oven, microwaves, refrigerated salad/sandwich prep station, blenders and coffee brewers, all for under $50,000.
Ozon’s interior design hits all the cool-kid buttons: orange counter tops; purple and chartreuse walls; eye-grabbing graphics; and flat-screen TVs playing music videos. There are also a brushed aluminum laminate front to the counter, toe-kick lighting below to make the counter appear to float, a magnetic menu board, and bold hanging banners.
Check it out at www.ozononline.com.
Got News?
Foodservice Equipment Reports and FER Fortnightly are always on the lookout for what’s new and important in the industry.
If you’ve got news of company activity, personnel changes, etc., please contact Senior Editor Janice Cha at jcha@fermag.com or Associate Editor Allison Clark at aclark@fermag.com.
Product news? Email Associate Editor Payal Uttam at puttam@fermag.com.
Ideas for features, or other concepts? Shoot an email to Chief Editor Brian Ward at bward@fermag.com or Executive Editor Jennifer Hicks at jenhicks@fermag.com.
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