Seventeen dealers can boast about hardworking employees who have earned scholarships from the FEDA Education Foundation. The foundation recently awarded 33 scholarships to help cover some of the costs associated with attending the University of Industrial Distribution program, March 10-13, 2013 at the JW Marriott Indianapolis.        Participants create their own curriculum to help them earn…

Foodservice Equipment Reports has trimmed its forecasts of foodservice equipment and supplies sales growth for 2012 and ’13. A clear trend of slowing growth in 2012, as charted by publicly reporting E&S companies and the Business Barometer maintained by the Manufacturers’ Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry, has led the magazine to cut its forecasted…

The 2012 version of “Size & Shape of the Industry,” which details dollar sales for more than 350 categories of foodservice equipment, supplies, tabletop and furnishings, has been released by the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers. The new release updates the study, which has been conducted by NAFEM every other year since 2002.…

Nearly everyone expects big jumps in food prices, especially for proteins, over the next year or so, thanks to the ongoing drought in the United States. October’s wholesale food-price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index make it clear the increases have already begun. The PPI charts food prices at three levels…

American consumers have seemed oblivious to the potential negative impact on them of the  so-called “fiscal cliff,” the combination of tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2013, unless Congress and the Obama Administration can work out a deal. But the Thomson/Reuters University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers began to…

It’s back to the future for San Jamar. The maker of foodservice, janitorial and sanitation products, supplies and clothing is now carrying all of its brands and products under its original name: San Jamar. The company had been known as San Jamar-Chef Revival since its acquisition of Chef Revival in 2006. “This move to position…

The to-do menu at Bob Evans Restaurants is on overdrive. The company is speeding up its Bob Evans’ store-remodeling program, known as “Farm Fresh Refresh” and will complete re-dos of all 565 units by the first half of 2014. That’s a year ahead of schedule. Forty-five stores were revamped during the recent fiscal ’13 second-quarter…

Atlanta-based Arby’s Restaurant Group has sold 42 company-owned locations and development rights in Seattle and Portland, Ore. The buyer, operator Tony Lutfi, will remodel at least 17 restaurants and has committed to building five new Arby’s locations over the next several years. The deal expands Lutfi’s franchise holdings to 120 restaurants; he also owns and…

TCBY has set its sights on the Houston area as a key market for growing its brand of frozen yogurt. The chain looks to grow there by 15 to 20 stores in the next three to five years. TCBY already has eight traditional stores in the market; two new self-serve stores are set to open…

The time has come again to recognize commercial and noncommercial operators who drive innovation and excellence in the restaurant industry. The National Restaurant Association is accepting nominations for its 2013 Operator Innovations Awards, which celebrate “operators who are transforming the industry with extraordinary creativity and commitment to innovation and excellence in execution.” Self-nominations are welcomed.…