The pronounced swings in the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index continued in April as the overall index gained 0.9 point to 101.6, thanks to strong gains in current same-store sales and traffic. The Index has swung back and forth since it ended a 33-month run of being in positive territory last December, when it…
Wholesale food prices, which had fallen six of the past seven months, were flat in April, according to Producer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the 12 months ending April, wholesale prices were 2.5% below their year-earlier levels, the 14th consecutive month prices have been lower than the year before. Among…
One major index of consumer confidence jumped sharply in April while the other moved lower. Meanwhile, record demand continued to push gasoline prices higher. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index spiked to 94.7 in the final April reading, from 89 in March, its highest level in nine months. The renewed strength came from consumer…
Chefs and operators headed to Capitol Hill two weeks ago to press for new regulations concerning the estimated 70 billion pounds of food wasted annually in the United States. The House Agriculture Committee, typically consumed with things like farm subsidies and food stamps, held its first full hearing on the topic. According to the Food…
Arizona: Installing ventilation for a pizza oven under the limitations imposed by historic building protections delayed a restaurant opening for four months in Phoenix. The new downtown Hilton Garden Inn opened last December, but regulations guiding changes, permits and preservation slowed down kitchen and patio construction. The oven’s ventilation had to be routed through nearly…
If turnout was any indication of the topicality of food safety, then the 18th Annual Food Safety Summit was a roaring success. The May 9-11 summit, held for the first time in Rosemont, Ill., attracted nearly 1,700 registered food safety professionals, a 12% increase in registered attendees from 2015, and more than 200 exhibiting companies,…
Not quite a year after it bought Bevles from Standex Int’l., The Legacy Companies has acquired EdgeCraft Corp., maker of the Chef’s Choice brand. The completed deal was official June 3. Legacy, a privately owned company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., also owns Blakeslee, Excalibur, General, Greenfield WorldTrade, Kold-Draft, Maxximum, Nautilus, Omega, and Zeroll. The…
Cooper-Atkins Corp. received McDonald’s top honor, the 2015 Global Supplier of the Year Award, at the chain’s worldwide convention last month. The award is presented to the organization providing the most significant impact and contribution to McDonald’s global business results from the previous year, and recognizes criteria spanning commitment to quality and food safety; product;…