Restaurant and bar sales rose another 0.7% month-on-month in September, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report for September. And McDonald’s reported the first quarterly gain, 0.9%, in same-store sales in the U.S. market in two years. These reports are among the signs that the restaurant market in the U.S. continues to…

Restaurant operators are taking advantage of the stronger sales and traffic environment to raise prices in spite of falling wholesale food prices. The index for food-away-from-home prices rose 0.5% month-over-month in September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks such prices as part of its Consumer Price Index. Over the past 12…

NAFEM is continuing to lead the industry fight against pending changes to the U.S. Department of Energy’s final energy standards for foodservice refrigeration. On Sept. 30, NAFEM legal counsel appeared in the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to request the Court vacate the DOE’s final energy-conservation standards for commercial refrigeration equipment. During a 15-minute…

There are only a few days left to submit comments to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) about climate issues affected by foodservice equipment, including charbroilers and refrigeration. The board’s strategy paper explores deep reductions in short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) emissions by 2030. The paper outlines plans to meet future greenhouse-gas emission targets, achieve air-quality…

Foodservice chains are rapidly expanding in the Middle East, and now the National Restaurant Association has expanded the reach of its food-safety training programs into Arabic-speaking countries with the release of ServSafe Food Safety Online Course-Arabic. ServSafe Int’l. products are now available in 25 languages and used in over 80 countries. “ServSafe is the gold…

Wolters-Althoff Investments, LLC and Gill Ashton Publishing, LLC, have agreed to terms under which WAI will acquire GAP and all of its products. WAI, based in Chicago, is the private equity and venture capital arm of the Wolters Family Office headed by former owner and founder of CookTek, Bob Wolters. Evanston, Ill.-based GAP owns Foodservice…

New ownership is at the helm of Heritage Foodservice Group, the country’s largest distributor of OEM and repair parts for the foodservice equipment industry. Windjammer Capital Investors, in partnership with the Heritage management team, has acquired the Fort Wayne, Ind., business from The Jordan Co., which had owned Heritage since 2011. Full terms of the…

I’ve been hearing often the past few years about the issues confronting the global supply chain for sourcing durable supplies, tabletop and servingware. Our annual FER Smallwares & Tabletop Design Awards, which will be featured in FER‘s November issue, always remind me of these issues. Put simply, not much of such stuff is made in…

Excell has welcomed Chris Reeves to lead the company’s vendor relations, dealer marketing and business development functions as its new Vice President-Business Development. Reeves brings the Denver-based buying group more than 20 years’ experience in the foodservice equipment and distribution industries. While he most recently worked on the manufacturing side of the industry as western…