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Equipment dealers and manufacturers are among the companies lending a hand to communities and organizations during the long, hot summer of 2011. Four recently donated foodservice equipment through the “Today” show’s annual “Lend a Hand” traveling charity campaign. Community Kitchens of Birmingham, Ala., a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding the hungry, received a visit from…

Master-Bilt has appointed Steve Asay as national accounts manager-refrigeration. The New Albany, Miss., company is part of Standex Foodservice Group. Asay joins Master-Bilt from Kairak/ITW, where he served as v.p.-sales and marketing. He will focus on Master-Bilt’s strategic growth and market share in the refrigeration business, especially rack refrigeration.  

Restaurant-grading systems have been in place in Los Angeles County for a decade and in New York City for the past year. Pittsburgh’s foray into using a similar letter-grading system for health inspections, however, is on hold. It’s a collision of state regulations versus county food code. The Allegheny County Health Department has tabled the proposal,…

A pilot program is giving some Phoenix-area restaurants more responsibility for their own food safety and cutting back on the number of full inspections of those eateries. The voluntary program unofficially went into effect in February but Maricopa County officials say it is just now getting into full swing. It’s designed to encourage a cooperative…

Combined revenues for the Top 100 foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturers rose 3.9% in 2010, according to Foodservice Equipment Reports‘ exclusive analysis of the largest E&S manufacturers. The annual ranking, based on North American revenues, is part of the magazine’s 2012 E&S Market Forecast package. From the largest company in the list, Manitowoc Foodservice at…

Continuing stagnant economies in much of Europe and the U.S. are holding down restaurant visits, according to the latest traffic and sales data from The NPD Group. But China, Germany and France saw significant real gains in the first quarter this year, the Port Washington, N.Y., research firm reported. China continued to see a foodservice…

The Great Foodservice Recession is catching up with foodservice operators in the U.S., though nearly all the pain is among independents, according the latest ReCount unit census data from The NPD Group. The total number of units in the U.S. fell by 9,450 to 574,050, or 2%, during the year that ended March 31, NPD said.…