Event Agenda MUFES 2026

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2026 Topics

Tues., Feb. 3

Keynote: Cool by Design, the Jeremiah’s Italian Ice Journey

Decarbonization and Electrification

Effective Energy Use for Maximum Kitchen Performance

Improving Water Quality

Panel: Design Lessons Learned

Wed., Feb. 4

Future of Foodservice 2026

Panel: Steps To Start Automating

Tapping Into Predictive Maintenance

Panel: Supply Chain Considerations

2026 Full Agenda

2026 Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Michael Keller

Michael is president and CEO of Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, one of the fastest-growing frozen dessert franchises in the U.S. Since joining the brand in 2023, he has focused on driving strategic growth, operational excellence and innovative menu development as Jeremiah’s expands nationwide. Michael brings more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in the foodservice and consumer brands sectors. Before Jeremiah’s, he served as CEO/president of Pearson Candy Co. and held senior roles including chief marketing officer at American Dairy Queen. Earlier in his career, Michael led marketing and innovation initiatives at Jamba Juice, Baskin-Robbins USA and Homestore.com. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. An advocate for community and nonprofit service, Michael has served on numerous national boards, including as governing board chair for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. He and his wife, Gina, reside in Minneapolis and have three children.

Jeremiah’s Italian Ice
President and CEO

Matt Armstrong

Matt, along with Thad Hudgens founded Huey Magoo’s in 2004. Matt has brought a complement to leadership by providing expertise in the areas of development and construction to help grow Huey Magoo’s into a brand that guests continually rave about. Matt has committed his lifelong business career to ensure the success of Huey Magoo’s. His goal is to continue the pattern of strategic growth by expanding franchise locations throughout key markets in the United States. Matt holds a seat on Huey Magoo’s Restaurants board of directors, and serves on various boards of Central Florida charities and ministries. Beyond his work at Huey Magoo’s, Matt is a devout husband and father of two children, while keeping his faith as the centerpiece of their family.

Huey Magoo's
Co-Founder/VP Development

Lee Berger

Lee serves as vice president of real estate and construction at Ascent Hospitality Management, where he leads all aspects of real estate development and construction strategy for the organization. Drawing on more than 18 years of experience in corporate and commercial real estate, he oversees site selection, development and execution of projects that support the company’s long-term growth. Known for his collaborative leadership style and operational focus, Lee partners closely with cross-functional teams to deliver builds that enhance brand presence and guest experience.

Ascent Hospitality Management
VP of Real Estate and Construction

Eric Brasseur

Eric serves as vice president, engineering and equipment services for Little Caesars. He has more than 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry. He began his career at NSF Int’l., holding a variety of roles that gave him deep exposure across the restaurant supply chain—working with food equipment manufacturers, food processors and distributors, and operators themselves. This broad foundation led him to several key leadership roles at Little Caesar Enterprises, where he has overseen equipment research and development, automation, process innovation, architecture and design, equipment supply chain, and facilities management. In his current position, Eric is responsible for all restaurant equipment globally for Little Caesars, guiding the process from ideation and development through field testing, commercialization and lifecycle support.

Little Caesar Enterprises
Vice President, Engineering & Equipment Services

Sean Cusick

Sean’s 30-year restaurant industry journey started at Red Lobster in Coral Springs, Fla. From busboy to server to assistant manager he transitioned into corporate purchasing roles at Darden Restaurants, Brinker International, Subway (IPC), and Dave & Buster’s before taking on his current role at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers as director of indirect sourcing in February 2025. Sean works with OEMs, kitchen equipment suppliers and facilities services providers to help Freddy’s maintain 540 restaurants and grow the brand to achieve Freddy’s growth goal of 1,000 locations by 2031. Sean graduated from the University of Florida and earned an MBA degree from Florida Atlantic University. Sean holds C.P.M. and CPSM certifications from the Institute of Supply Management and served on the ISM Dallas board of directors for 10 years. Sean lives in Dallas, Texas, and enjoys playing golf when not attending his daughter’s volleyball games with his wife, Lynn!

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
Director of Indirect Sourcing

Richard Eisenbarth

Initially joining Cini-Little in 1977, Dick has enjoyed a successful career with the firm, holding a wide range of senior positions throughout his tenure. He currently serves as president, emeritus. While retired from day-to-day leadership at Cini-Little, Dick continues to mentor staff members and the foodservice industry through a variety of programs. He is a client-focused, results-oriented leader with a proven track record of managing teams of professionals on complex foodservice planning and design efforts. He has earned a reputation as a leader in the design of dynamic, resourceful and efficient food and beverage facilities. Dick is a professional emeritus member of FCSI, and past trustee for The Americas division. He has served as a judge for the National Restaurant Association’s Kitchen Innovations Awards program for the past 11 years. Dick believes in giving back and as such, is heavily involved with his alma mater, Purdue University, Hospitality and Tourism Management department, receiving its Hall of Fame Award and is a member of the Purdue University President’s Council. Currently, Dick is serving as the technical editor for a new textbook for the FCSI Education Foundation entitled "Foundations of Foodservice Design," being published in the summer of 2026. Honors and distinctions include the FER 2020 Industry Service Award—Consultant and FE&S 2021 Hall of Fame Award.

Cini-LittlePresident Emeritus

Cha Nye Farley

Cracker Barrel
Director Facility Services

Phil Kafarakis

Phil serves as the president and CEO of IFMA, The Food Away from Home Association. He brings over three decades of food and beverage industry leadership and strategic expertise, most specifically in this food away from home sector and takes great pride in being part of IFMA, given his own legacy with the organization throughout his career. Phil spent the past decade in the association world. His earlier food-based career involved decades on the manufacturing side with big organizations such as McCormick, Cargill and Oscar Mayer. His deep industry knowledge and commitment to food safety, collaboration and consumer satisfaction and supply chain have positioned him as a respected voice within the global food community. Phil is dedicated to building a vibrant future for foodservice by championing the needs of IFMA’s members and driving value across the entire food supply chain.

IFMA, The Food Away from Home Association
President and CEO

Nathan Miller

Nathan is a field service operator and foodservice innovation strategist helping multiunit brands rethink how uptime, equipment performance and water quality impact operational profitability. He serves on the board of directors and advisory council for CFESA, the industry's leading association for commercial foodservice equipment service. As vice president of Coastline Cooling, Nathan leads initiatives to reduce time to resolution for some of Florida’s largest multiunit operators—bridging frontline experience with emerging trends like predictive maintenance, connected kitchen ecosystems and service first equipment design. He works closely with operators, service companies and OEMs to reduce total equipment downtime through smarter processes, connected technologies and collaborative service strategies.

Coastline Cooling
Vice President

Chad Moutray

Chad is chief economist and senior vice president for research and knowledge at the National Restaurant Association. Previously, he served as chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers (2011–2024) and at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy (2002–2010). He began his career as dean of the School of Business Administration at Robert Morris College in Chicago. Chad holds a Ph.D. in economics from Southern Illinois University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Illinois University.

National Restaurant Association
Senior Vice President, Research and
Knowledge, and Chief Economist

Ken Schwartz

Ken established SSA Foodservice Consultants in 1987 in response to an industry need for professional, innovative, and creative foodservice design and consulting. Ken has been involved in the foodservice industry his entire life, growing up in the family’s restaurant supply and equipment business founded in 1897 by his great-grandfather. Ken studied accounting, architecture and economics. He has successfully meshed his education with his lifelong business experiences to form SSA, a firm dedicated to the unique enhancement of guest experience for hospitality and foodservice through efficient, bespoke design and strategic planning. In 1999, Ken created Studio F/S an office/studio enclave to promote and support hospitality and foodservice through creative design and consulting to help clients create and deliver exceptional guest experience. Ken has extensive experience in design and development of commercial and institutional facilities of all sizes. His project experience has ranged from small projects like Starbucks Coffee operations to large mixed-use resorts with a development cost of $2.45 billion. Ken oversees numerous projects for SSA for clients such as Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Microsoft, Hard Rock Cafes, Pepsi, Hilton, Marriott, Renaissance, Hard Rock Casinos, Amalie Arena, San Francisco 49ers Stadium, Dali Museum, Dean & DeLuca, several projects and concepts for Union Square Hospitality Group and for such celebrity and Michelin star clients as Emeril, John Fraser, Daniel Boulud, Michael Mina and Scott Conant, as well as numerous others.

SSA Foodservice Design + ConsultingPresident and CEO

Mike Snyder

Mike is the president/founder of The Aligned Solution Group. He is a proven leader in restaurant facilities and asset lifecycle management. He helps brands move from reactive break-fix models to planned maintenance strategies. His programs include modifying operational procedures, strategic cyclical maintenance programs and planned equipment replacement based on expected useful life. He partners directly with restaurant operators and collaborates with executives, finance, operations, procurement and facilities teams to align around lifecycle goals. His team performs audits on the performance of an operator’s current facilities program using AI-generated reporting to support predictive lifecycle analytics. The focus is ensuring that repair and maintenance budgets are used effectively to reduce downtime, extend asset life and deliver sustainable value. Mike also helps brands source trade-specific vendors and build warranty execution plans that improve long-term performance. Mike has led programs at Brinker Int’l., Corner Bakery and Newk’s Eatery. In 2015, he co-founded Ecotrak Facilities Management Software, an asset management software built for the restaurant industry and used by over 200 restaurant companies.

The Aligned Solution Group
President/Founder

Tiffany Vassos

Tiffany serves as senior vice president of design and construction for Dave’s Hot Chicken, a fast-growing Nashville-style hot chicken brand from Los Angeles. She joined Dave’s in 2020 as vice president of design and construction. Prior to her role with Dave’s, Tiffany held several senior roles, including vice president of design and construction, at Blaze Pizza. Tiffany was a member of FER’s Women in Leadership 2022 Panel.

Dave's Hot Chicken
SVP - Design and Construction

Richard Young

Richard is the director of outreach at the Frontier Energy Food Service Technology Center, an unbiased, commercial foodservice, research-and-training facility. Trained as an electrical engineer, Richard started his career in alternative energy, changing from energy-generation to energy-efficiency when he joined the FSTC research team over 35 years ago. He is a contributor to the USGBC's LEED rating system and the EPA’s Energy Star program. Richard has lectured at UC Berkeley and UC Davis and taught a foodservice sustainability class at Diablo Valley College. Richard is a former member of the National Restaurant Association’s Conserve Advisory Council and is a past fellow of the Hobart Center for Foodservice Sustainability. Richard is currently an advisor to the Mission College culinary education program and the Worldchefs Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals program. Richard focuses his efforts on translating Frontier Energy’s 36 years of foodservice research into practical information. He has created and delivered over 1,500 presentations and classes during the last 30 years and authored numerous research reports and articles in magazines, newsletters and on the web. He also is the creator and author of the online Foodservice Energy Efficiency Expert (Fe3) training and certification program (fethree.com).

Frontier Energy
Director of Outreach

David Zabrowski

David is vice president of Frontier Energy, a consulting firm focusing on driving economic growth while lowering environmental impact, and manager of the Food Service Technology Center, the leading resource for energy efficiency in commercial foodservice. In addition to managing the FSTC, David focuses on connecting with major stakeholders across the commercial buildings sector to create new opportunities for energy optimization through utility and government sponsored programs and industry collaboratives. This effort has been a major catalyst for change in the industry, opening new markets for innovation. David has a passion for food, constantly monitoring (and sampling) the latest culinary trends. He balances his interest in good food with his hobby as an amateur film photographer. David has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and 30 years of experience in energy efficiency research.

Frontier Energy
Vice President

Allison Rezendes

Foodservice Equipment Reports
Chief Content Officer

Lauren Coughlin

Foodservice Equipment Reports
Managing Editor