Technomic Inc., the Chicago-based foodservice research firm, often revises its current-year forecast of operator sales around the time of the National Restaurant Association Show. It did so again this year, but added a significant wrinkle: It offered a preliminary forecast for 2013. The forecasts are quite positive, with both ’12 and ’13 expected to be…

It was less than forecast, but the MAFSI Business Barometer, which tracks manufacturers’ reps’ sales trends, was up 4% in the first quarter 2012 versus the prior year’s first quarter. It was the measure’s sixth consecutive quarter of gains following three years of declining sales. The quarterly survey is fielded by the Manufacturers’ Agents Association…

Seven publicly traded equipment and supplies companies reported blended sales rose 4.9% in the first quarter 2012 versus the same quarter in ’11. It was the eighth consecutive quarter of combined revenue gains for the seven, which include five equipment-oriented and two supplies-oriented companies. The increase was an improvement over a moderate 3.1% gain in…

Though average same-store sales rose a mere 0.6% in the first quarter this year compared with the same quarter last year, restaurant operators surveyed by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association are significantly more optimistic about sales growth during the next six months than they were fourth quarter 2011. Nearly 38% of those responding expect…

Foodservice Equipment Reports will stage a new awards event at The NAFEM Show the evening of Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The magazine will recognize winners of a series of awards including new “Management Excellence Awards” for commercial and noncommercial operators, dealers and consulting firms; “Young Lion” awards that…

Reforming the tax code would have a huge impact on the way foodservice businesses operate, according to accounting experts who spoke May 7 at the 2012 NRA Show in Chicago. Bob Carroll, of Ernst and Young’s quantitative economics and statistics division, said the restaurant industry would be affected by any proposed changes to the tax…

Foodservice Equipment Reports’ annual President’s Preview 2013 E&S Market Forecast meeting will be held Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at the Westin O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. This one-day, comprehensive look at data and trends in foodservice and the foodservice equipment and supplies markets includes the magazine’s hard-number forecasts of E&S market growth for ’13 and…

That empty space for workplace notices on the kitchen wall, by the loading dock or in the break room might stay vacant a bit longer. In a setback for the National Labor Relations Board, a federal appeals court has officially put the brakes on a controversial new poster mandate that the NLRB sought to enforce…

Canada can boast of more than one million workers in its restaurant industry, but the country and industry also face a labor shortage. According to the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council, the $63 billion (Canadian) foodservice industry will be short at least 35,000 workers by 2015. The scramble to find workers will be felt most…