Something to chew on: While nearly all the recent losses in net restaurant counts in the United States have been among independent operators, growth last year in Canadian restaurant counts actually came from independents. According to data from The NPD Group’s annual ReCount census, Canada’s independent operators, which account for 63.8% of the country’s 72,721…

Nonfarm payrolls in the United States grew by 80,000 as the unemployment rate fell slightly to 9% in October, according to data released Friday, Oct. 4, by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers were somewhat weaker than most analysts expected. But the government also revised upwards by 102,000 the number of jobs created…

Academic, private-sector and government forces have jointly created the world’s first global food-safety training facility. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the University of Maryland’s Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and Waters Corp. have opened the Int’l. Food Safety Training Laboratory in College Park, Md. The IFSTL will focus on hands-on lab…

One of the critical realities of the foodservice business is that richer households buy a significant percentage of restaurant meals. And one of the unfortunate effects of the Great Recession is that there are significantly fewer affluent households today than there were in 2007—some 2 million fewer, according to the National Restaurant Association’s Chief Economist…

ALTO-SHAAM has repositioned its regional sales managers as sector vice presidents, along with its culinary and inside sales support teams. Jack Scott, senior v.p.-sales and marketing, heads up the sales team; Michael Aguirre and Todd Griffith both have received sales and marketing v.p. titles; and Warren Casey, Steve Gill and William Groleau now hold sales…

Wholesale food prices are on a course to show the largest one-year increase since 1980, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data and analysis from the National Restaurant Association. “Average” wholesale food prices, as NRA calls them, and the “finished foods” index in PPI data both rose another 0.6% in September.…

The National Restaurant Association has opened up the nomination process for its 2012 Kitchen Innovations Awards. The awards, selected by an independent panel of experts, celebrate groundbreaking equipment and products that will cut costs and improve productivity and food quality in restaurant operations. “Product innovation is an important driver toward restaurant sales growth and cost…

Consumer confidence has generally been considered a good driver of consumer spending. But recent data shows a bit of disconnect. Both major measures of consumer confidence remain at recession levels. The Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board fell in October to 39.8 from 46.4 in September. The Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose slightly…

Jacques Bloch, a founder of one of the Association for Healthcare Foodservice’s legacy organizations and a strong advocate for healthcare foodservice, has died. Two years ago, AHF created its lifetime achievement award recognizing members exemplifying the leadership and spirit of Bloch and Angelo Gagliano, the founders of the American Society for Healthcare Food Service Administrators…

The equipment battle has ended. The gourmet burger battle has begun. The Wendy’s Co. has settled a lawsuit with franchise group WendPartners over bun-toasting equipment the company required in order to introduce its new cheeseburger, Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy. WendPartners has agreed to install new toasters in the 329 outlets it operates in 20 states.…