This is normally the time of year that our forecasting partner John Muldowney, principal at Clarity Marketing, and I look at our current equipment and supplies market forecasts. We talked last week and see no reason to revise either our 2015 estimate or our 2016 forecast. In fact the third quarter numbers from MAFSI and…

Results from eight publicly reporting equipment and supplies companies were mixed in the third quarter of 2015, according to data compiled by John Muldowney, principal at Clarity Marketing. Overall sales for the eight rose 4.3%, versus the third quarter last year, driven by strong gains from three of the equipment-oriented companies and a moderately positive…

The Manitowoc Co., in the process of separating its foodservice and crane businesses, announced December 7 that it has sold Kysor Panel Systems, a maker of wood frame and high-density rail panel systems for walk-in freezers and coolers to a private investment firm affiliate for about $85 million. The buyer, D Cubed Group, also acquired…

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End of year giving is a wonderful thing, but in a country where an estimated 30 million Americans—including 12 million children—are at risk of hunger, giving and donating is needed year-round. An estimated 14 billion pounds of food are sent to U.S. landfills every year. Nationwide, full-service restaurants account for 20% of food waste, grocery stores…

A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge in San Francisco has ruled that Jack in the Box’s arbitration agreement, which is required as an employment condition, violates workers’ rights to pursue class-action law suits. The judge recommended the arbitration agreement be revised or removed, saying it violated employee rights under sections of the National…

Add Quiznos to the growing list of QSR chains moving to the grown-up table. Its new Quiznos Grill prototype in Denver features wine and beer on tap, and offers a smaller but more adult-geared menu with items such as kale salad and sandwiches prepared on the kitchen’s grill top and fryer. The unit also will…

Restaurant Technologies, a provider of cooking-oil management to more than 23,000 operators nationwide, has acquired Pure Fill Solutions, which services more than 300 bakeries, grocery stores and independent restaurants throughout the St. Paul, Minn., region. The sale was finalized December 7. Pure Fill has served the Twin Cities metro area for 17 years; its customers will…

With the holidays drawing near, the next few months will pass quickly, and the official industry association meeting season will be upon us. Register now for NAFEM’s 2016 Annual Meeting & Management Workshop, Feb. 19-22, at the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, San Juan, Puerto Rico. The three-day meeting allows unrivaled networking for

TPG Growth, a San Francisco-based private-equity firm, has acquired Taco Bueno Restaurants from Palladium Equity Partners, the New York firm that had owned the quick-service Tex-Mex chain since 2005. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Taco Bueno has 177 restaurants in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Farmers Branch, Texas, chain, founded…