Suzanne Painter-Supplee, CFSP, has joined

Robert Kardos, a longtime manufacturer’s rep, died May 30. He was 76. For more than half a century, his Bedford Hills, N.Y., company, Robert E. Kardos Associates, served the foodservice industry through a network of distributors in the New York City metro area. Sales focused on tabletop, smallwares, disposables and janitorial products. In July 2011,…

In an ongoing effort to encourage dealers to reach their full potential, the

Foodservice Equipment Reports’ 2013 E&S Market Forecast President’s Preview will be held Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at the Westin O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. This annual one-day, comprehensive look at data and trends driving the foodservice equipment and supplies market into ’13 and beyond features a new benefit this year: Suppliers paying the full seminar…

The National Restaurant Association released its monthly Restaurant Performance Index data for April on May 30. To check out the trends, click

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index reached 79.3 in the final April reading released May 25, its ninth consecutive monthly gain. It was the highest point for the widely followed index since October 2007. The U.M. Surveys of Consumers also reported increases in the Expectations and Current Situation Indexes. All three indices are…

Overall wholesale food prices and operator menu prices continued their moderate gains in April, with wholesale prices up 0.2% and menu prices climbing 0.3%.  Meanwhile, gasoline prices fell again in April and during the four weeks of May, after peaking in early April. The April increase for wholesale foods followed a 0.6% increase in March…

A recent study by The NPD Group’s restaurant analyst Bonnie Riggs adds to the fascinating body of data and analyses about how consumers at different income levels use foodservice and how the Great Recession has changed those behaviors. The report, titled The Growing Divide: Restaurant Behaviors of the Financially Comfortable and Financially Strained, finds that…

National restaurant chains have been saying for more than a year that Utah’s lack of liquor licenses is keeping them from opening units in the state. In May, Utah had only one liquor license to grant to a full-service operation. That shortage and the lack of expansion by multiunit chains has finally hit home for…