Vera Jenkins, who was given the title “First Lady of Foodservice” through her long and varied career as a dietitian and manufacturers’ rep, passed away Feb. 21 at the age of 95.After receiving her degree in home economics, Jenkins was one of six students admitted into Duke University’s graduate program for dietetic studies. During World…
Last month’s edition of The NAFEM Show in Anaheim, Calif., boasted a strong turnout with more than 20,000 foodservice professionals on the show floor during the Feb. 19-21 exhibition. The NAFEM Show’s attendance totaled 9,940; the biggest segment of attendees was dealers, who comprised 44% of the total. Operators made up 29% of those attending,…
There were no empty seats at FEDA’s presentations during The NAFEM Show in Anaheim, Calif. Nearly 450 dealer personnel attended “The SELL Process—Your Offense” at FEDA’s Box Lunch sales seminar. The program, led by speaker Don Buttrey, included techniques on how to prepare and execute highly effective customer interactions. Additionally, NAFEM President Mike Whiteley of…
We sent out the forms for our fifth annual FER Top Dealers Report last week. If you don’t see the form—they can get stuck in spam filters—just click on this link, fermag.com/media-library/research.html, download the form, complete it and get it back to Christine Palmer as directed. While in that section of our website, you can…
Winchester, Mass.-based Concept Equipment Corp. has become the rep and stocking distributor for LoLo, the Byram, Miss., division of Unified Brands, in the New England market and upstate New York. Brad Clancy heads up the 35-year-old rep business.
ACCUREX FIRE READY HOODAccurex’s new Fire Ready Hood, Model XRRS, functions as a standard ventilation range hood that can suppress stovetop fires, addressing the challenge of protecting residential-style appliances used in commercial settings, such as military bases, dorms, firehouses, churches and more. Designed for use over a 30- or 36-in. residential range, the hood incorporates…
Sales growth of foodservice equipment and supplies slowed unexpectedly in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to data from the newly released Business Barometer fielded by the Manufacturers’ Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry. Overall sales rose just 2.9% in the quarter, compared with the fourth quarter in 2013, as pronounced weakness in the Northeast…
The 2014 “Size & Shape of the Industry Study,” produced every other year by the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, is now available for purchase by the general public. The biennial study reports NAFEM member company 2013 sales in: Food Preparation Primary Cooking Equipment Refrigeration & Ice Machines Serving Equipment Smallwares, Cookware &…
Restaurant industry indicators tracked by the National Restaurant Association’s monthly Restaurant Performance Index were mixed in January, the association reported Feb. 27. Buoyed by dramatically lower prices for gasoline and strong employment trends, consumers helped push same-store sales and traffic higher. But the two measures following capital spending activity dropped sharply and operators were also…
The flat or falling customer traffic experienced by many restaurant operators since the Great Recession apparently also is having an effect on total unit counts. The NPD Group’s biannual ReCount restaurant census for the year ended Sept. 30, 2014, recorded a 1% decline in total restaurant units, from 635,033 in 2013 to 630,964 at the…