In This Section:
Structural Concepts' Clean Sweep Wins IH/M&RS Award
IH/M&RS Hands Out Gold Keys At 91st Show
FSTC Celebrates 20 Years Of Equipment Testing
Survey Says: An Ounce Of Certified Manager May Be Worth A Pound Of Cure
Wal-Mart LEDs The Way With Reefer Display Lights
This issue's Economic Report Sponsor: Hotelex Shanghai, April 4-7, 2007 |
Regulatory ReportSponsor: Franke Foodservice Systems
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Structural Concepts' Clean Sweep Wins IH/M&RS Award
Structural Concepts' Clean Sweep, an electronically controlled brush mechanism that automatically cleans refrigeration condenser coils, won the Editors' Choice Award in the Restaurant Category at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York last month. The award was among six category awards presented at the annual competition. Other winners:
- Décor: Pacific Coast Feather Company, Seattle, for its Silver Soft Collection, an ultrasoft, antimicrobial bedding collection.
- Essentials: Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Las Vegas, for its locking High Security Housekeeping Cart.
- Flavors: Parkside Coffee, Bowmansville, N.Y., for Parkside Eight, a new espresso line.
- Luxury: LC Premiums, New York, for its Pop Art Toaster, a chrome unit with plates that brand hotel logos into toast.
- Technology: Minibar Systems, Rockville, Md., for Smartcube, an advanced modular minibar system using infrared sensing.
The Kenneth F. Hines Award for Best of Show went to Minibar for its infrared-equipped Smartcube minibar system.
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IH/M&RS Hands Out Gold Keys At 91st Show
In another awards program presented at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show last month in New York, nine innovative design firms were named winners from some 150 entries worldwide at the annual Gold Key awards ceremonies. Among them, foodservice category winners:
- Casual Dining Restaurant: Steve Leung Designers LTD and Alan Chan Design Company, Hong Kong, for MX, Hong Kong.
- Fine Dining Restaurant: Yabu Pushelberg, New York, for FIN Restaurant, The Mirage, Las Vegas.
- Lounge/Bar: Zeff Design, New York, for Social Hollywood, Los Angeles.
The Designer of the Year award went to David Rockwell for his contributions to the field of hospitality design. Rockwell is best known for his work at places such as New York City's Monkey Bar, Nobu, Sushi-Zen, Ruby Foo's and Serafina.
FSTC Celebrates 20 Years Of Equipment Testing
Balloons and other party goodies were onhand Nov. 2-3 as Pacific Gas & Electric's Food Service Technology Center celebrated its 20th anniversary during its semiannual advisory board meeting and open house.
The foodservice equipment testing lab, originally the brainchild of Betty J. Davis, now head of Davis Project Development, opened for business in 1986 as the only testing lab of its type in the country. At the time, there was no such thing as a standardized test method for foodservice equipment, but Davis was convinced that times were changing and energy efficiency and productivity performance were topics that would never go away.
Today, run by Fisher-Nickel Inc. and employing a staff of 11, the FSTC is still the only engineering-driven test facility of its kind. Over the years, the FSTC has developed some three dozen standardized test methods ratified by ASTM Int'l, the engineering and standards-development body formerly known as the American Society for Testing & Materials. The ASTM tests are the foundation of third-party foodservice equipment industry testing.
The anniversary event was attended by 98 foodservice and utility industry guests who attended educational seminars, heard plans for future development and toured the building's many test stations.
Proceedings also included an awards ceremony, in which Don Fisher and Judy Nickel recognized 60 contributors over the years in five categories: Outstanding Contribution to the FSTC, Advancing Energy Efficiency in Foodservice, Innovators of Energy Efficient Equipment Specifications, Leadership in Applying Emerging Technologies and Leadership in Applying Green Building Design.
Survey Says: An Ounce Of Certified Manager May Be Worth A Pound Of Cure
It pays to make sure your managers have food safety certification, according to a recent survey.
A study conducted by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and the University of Tennessee examined 22 restaurants involved in disease outbreaks between June 2002 and June '03, and a group of 347 restaurants with no recent outbreaks.
More than 70% of the restaurants with no outbreaks had a certified manager on staff at all times. Less than a third of those that experienced outbreaks had certified managers on staff.
Most restaurants train workers on the job, according to survey author Craig W. Hedberg, PhD, associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis. Researchers surmise that employees learn better food safety techniques when managers who train them have been certified. Certified managers also may be more likely to set good examples.
Findings, however, concluded that restaurants need to do a better job of making sure employees who are sick don't come to work.
Wal-Mart LEDs The Way With Reefer Display Lights
After a successful pilot program in Colorado, Wal-Mart is rolling out energy-efficient LED lighting in low- and medium-temperature refrigerated display cases in 500 stores. The lights were tested in a "green" store in Aurora, Colo., and will be used in conjunction with occupancy sensors and dimmers to reduce energy use even further. The chain expects to save 66% in energy costs compared with fluorescent lighting, according to Charles Zimmerman, vice president of prototype and new format development at Wal-Mart.
The company estimates the annual savings from the 500-store retrofit will be about $2.6 million and the environmental equivalent of taking more than 3,100 cars off the road each year. The company has 6,689 stores worldwide, which could represent savings of more than $34 million, just for refrigerated display lighting.
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