The Department of Labor unveiled final federal overtime regulations May 18. The new rule, which goes into effect December 1, 2016, states:Guarantees time-and-half pay to any salaried employee earning under $47,476 a year ($913 a week) and who works more than 40 hours in a week. That’s double the current salary threshold of $23,660 ($455 a…

We ran a story in our last issue about the owner of a restaurant in northern England on trial for manslaughter after a customer with a severe peanut allergy died from severe anaphylactic shock from eating curry made at the restaurant. The operator of Indian Garden in Easingwold was convicted Monday of gross negligence manslaughter…

The Middleby Corp. has acquired Follett Corp., the Easton,, Pa., manufacturer of ice machines, ice and water dispensing equipment, ice storage and transport products and medical grade refrigeration products for the foodservice and healthcare industries. Follett has approximately $140 million in annual revenues. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Follett offers unique product…

A number of you have asked us why we’re not writing about FoodServiceWarehouse, the Internet enterprise started and owned by members of the PRIDE dealer marketing group. The company has fallen on hard times during the past 12 months or so. Since included among those asking are a former president of NAFEM and a former…

The brief stock market panic and a big winter snowstorm in the Northeast during January this year didn’t stall the foodservice equipment and supplies market after all. Manufacturers’ reps surveyed for MAFSI’s quarterly Business Barometer reported an overall sales gain of 4.8% for the first quarter 2016. The gain exceeded the reps forecast of 4.3%…

In a major announcement for the E&S distribution industry, Excell Marketing & Procurement Group and NISSCO Restaurant Dealer Group have formed a strategic alliance as EMPG Holding Co. Now under a common umbrella, the groups look to be a market leader supporting foodservice equipment and supplies dealers. “Excell and NISSCO RDG have independently strived to…

PRIDE Marketing and Procurement, the dealer/shareholder-owned buying group, has appointed Karin Sugarman as its new Chief Executive Officer. Sugarman started her career in the foodservice equipment industry with PRIDE in 1992, eventually becoming executive v.p. until her departure in 2012. She expanded her experience in the industry while working on special projects for Scotsman Industries…

Two major appointments have been made at Ali Group-North America’s Refrigeration Division. Alexander Tappé, who has been serving as director of sales at Victory Refrigeration, has been promoted to Vice President of Sales. Erica Motes, who had been serving in the same post at Beverage-Air, has been named that company’s Vice President of Sales. Tappé…

A year before marking its 40th anniversary, Burkett Restaurant Equipment & Supplies is celebrating the grand opening celebration of its new Perrysburg, Ohio, headquarters. A week of festivities, demos and customer-appreciation days kicked off May 16 at the dealer’s new 95,000-sq.ft. facility. The renovation is integral to future growth for the dealership. While the building’s…

Patrick Lockwood-Taylor has been appointed the new CEO of EveryWare Global, the Lancaster, Ohio, marketer of tabletop and food preparation products formed through the merger of Anchor Hocking and Oneida Ltd. in March 2012. “We are very pleased to have attracted an executive of Patrick’s caliber to EveryWare Global,” said David Weinstein, chairman of the…