January 30, 2013

Bob Evans to Sell Mimi’s Café to LeDuff

Bob Evans Farms, Inc. has agreed to sell its Mimi’s Café restaurant chain to Le Duff America, Inc. for $50 million. The transaction is expected to close within the next 45 days.

Premier Restaurant Equipment Gets an Equity Partner

In an attempt to help grow the company, Premier Restaurant Equipment, a Minneapolis-based foodservice equipment and supplies dealer, has a new investor in the form of Hillcrest Capital Partners, a private equity firm in the same region. While exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, all of Premier’s existing management and sales teams will continue in their current positions.

Ramirez to Lead Unified Brands’ Quality Control and Improvement Efforts

Unified Brands named Santiago Ramirez its vice president of quality and continuous improvement. He is responsible for all enterprise wide quality resources and initiatives, the technical service group and Authorized Service Agent (ASA) network, and part sales and fulfillment.

This Week in Foodservice: Technomic Revises 2013 Forecast

Real growth in the restaurant industry will top out at 1.0 percent, according to the revised forecast released by Chicago-based Technomic. While the industry overall will continue to trudge along, Technomic does project a handful of segments will pick up the pace a little in the coming months.

NAFEM Show Announces Participants in New Product Gallery

The North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers has released the names of the more than 125 foodservice equipment and supplies brands that will have new products on display in its WHAT’S HOT! WHAT’S COOL! exhibit during the association’s biennial trade show, taking place Feb. 7-9 in Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.

The Kitchen of the Future

Flexibility in menu construction and equipment use has become the name of the game for today’s kitchens, and that will undoubtedly ring true for many years to come. But when designing kitchens that can withstand the tests of time, allowing for lean foot prints, sustainable foodservice practices and the needs of a changing consumer demographic will be equally important.

Manitowoc Sells Jackson Brand to Hoshizaki USA

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. has sold its Jackson warewashing business to Hoshizaki USA Holdings, Inc. The deal is expected to generate net proceeds of $26 million for Manitowoc, which the company says it will use to pay down its long-term debt.

CHG Bolsters Sales Team

Doug Reasoner is the new national sales manager for Component Hardware Group. In this role he assumes responsibility for sales of all Component Hardware brands to foodservice equipment and supplies dealers, consultants, and operators.

T&S Brass Hires European Sales Manager

T&S Brass, a plumbing and foodservice equipment manufacturer, appointed Paul Krutzen to the newly created position of European sales manager.

Gaudreau to Lead Cheddar’s Operational Team

Cheddar’s Casual Cafe named Peter Gaudreau its executive vice president of operations.

McDougall is Back Yard Burger’s New CEO

Back Yard Burgers, Inc., a Nashville-based quick-service burger chain, named David McDougall its new chief executive officer.

Kitchen Brains Buys Modularm Corp.

Kitchen Brains has acquired the assets of Modularm Corporation, a manufacturer of refrigeration monitoring devices designed to protect perishables, save energy and increase operator safety.

U.S. Restaurant Count Increases by 4,442 Units

The total number of U.S. restaurants grew by .7 percent to 616,008, according the NPD Group’s Fall 2012 ReCount, which is a count of commercial restaurant locations in the United States compiled in the spring and fall each year.