It’s exhilarating to watch good ideas take hold in an industry that has a reputation for being slow to change. But this issue of FE&S contains several great examples, and I hope that you enjoy reading it from cover to cover.

I always love it when we are able to bring you stories of people within the equipment and supplies industry or the wider restaurant community who are finding ways to succeed. While doing well, they are at the same time helping others or doing good. Keith Richards (the other Keith Richards) provides us with a great example in his Parting Shot this month on page 92. Be sure to give it a look.

We’ve got beer, pizza, ?Hallmark and a story about a movement back to the days before large-scale frozen food distribution. We are one Ty Cobb story away from a Ken Burns documentary with this issue of FE&S. Interestingly enough, it’s all about what’s happening in foodservice today.

August is our DSR of the Year issue and it gives me a chance to relive one of my favorite nights of the year. Combing through the photos and deciding what to include as representative of the Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala is a big job — but a rewarding one.

Those of us who attend a lot of conferences have heard an awful lot about Gen-Y lately. These are the 18-to-25-year olds that marketers can’t seem to get enough of and the rest of us tend to talk about as if they are not in the room. Maybe it’s the headphones.

As the expectations for healthcare foodservice keep mounting so, too, do the creative ways that operators like Dan and countless others across the industry continue to multiply.

We are excited to share the story behind the success of FE&S' 2015 Dealer of the Year Award recipient, Clark Associates, Inc. By merely glancing at Clark Associates' impressive growth over the past few years, you will quickly understand why they were considered for this award in the first place. But, FE&S' Dealer of the Year Award is much more than a simple measure of sales success.

The 2015 NAFEM Show was a stellar success. Once again it was easy to see just why this has become the most highly anticipated show in the segment, even though it takes place only every other year. From the smallest booths of energetic participants eagerly showing off their wares to an appreciative audience to the largest booths representing hundreds of hours of work to set up and tear down, this year’s NAFEM Show was a dazzling display of stainless steel and showmanship. It occupies a place that is truly at the epicenter of the foodservice equipment and supplies world.

This is the tantalizing phrase that Jackie Rodriguez, senior manager with Technomic, uses to describe the growing trend towards taking foodservice to on-the-move consumers via smaller, highly focused outlets. This emerging category includes a variety of outlets such as food trucks, kiosks, micro-marts, and even high-tech vending machines. The aim is a marriage between creative high-quality food offerings and convenience, and the early adopters tend to be younger consumers who are more accustomed to eating on the run.

The first thing that you should understand is that Joe Carbonara, our chief editor, does not give up the reins easily. Especially when it comes to the things that Joe loves to do, like the tabletop judging that he oversees each year for FE&S.

An unofficial theme pervades this issue of Foodservice Equipment and Supplies magazine and I can describe it in one Hawaiian word that packs a lot of meaning: Kina'ole. This single word roughly translates into "doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, in the right place, with the right person, with the right feeling, the first time."

A huge responsibility naturally accompanies naming a particular brand Best in Class across each category of commercial foodservice equipment and supplies each year.

The headline to our piece on the Field Museum in Chicago might have been, "The Best Things in the Field Museum are no Longer Confined to the Basement." 

Although I am no expert on sustainability, it seems to me that that the best kind of recycled glass is that made from the shards of a glass ceiling.

Innovation is, without question, one of the most prominent buzz words in our vocabulary today. Business leaders and politicians alike cite the need to innovate when addressing what ails a company, industry or even a government. When pledging to improve things for their employees or constituents, these leaders promise to become more innovative in their approach, each with varying degrees of success.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. If that is true, and I think it is, then competition has to be considered at least the older sibling of growth and innovation. Recent advancements in healthcare foodservice represent a prime example.

Quick...what do the years 1983, 2002 and 2014 have in common? And, no, they do not correspond with the years my favorite blazer has been in style.

One doesn't need to know a lot about foodservice design to realize that for such a phrase to exist, it must refer to someone who is not only highly regarded but who has attained the pinnacle of peer recognition and respect.

The unvarnished truth can be a difficult thing to deliver sometimes. It's in our nature to want to soften harsh facts with language that makes the message we're trying to relay more palatable. Take the ad in this issue about FE&S' upcoming Best in Class study. In the ad we tell you that filling out the questionnaire is "fast and easy."

In this issue of Foodservice Equipment and Supplies we proudly showcase the results from the magazine's 2014 Performance in Tabletop Awards.

Plato famously said, "Necessity is the Mother of Invention."

A s we get set to shift our attention to 2014, it’s a great time to reflect on all that’s happened during the course of this year. Here at FE&S, it has been a remarkable year highlighted by the celebration of our 65th anniversary. I would like to personally thank all of our readers, advertisers, and industry contributors who helped make this the best year in this publication’s illustrious history as measured by any metric that you choose.

A gainst a backdrop of unprecedented dysfunction that includes the government shutdown and the novel threat of U.S. debt default playing out as bargaining strategies before a world of bewildered onlookers, it's good to know that at least in the business world people can still work together for the common good.

From cronuts to 3D printing, it's hard to turn on your android device without some new fad, craze, or trend forcing its way into the modern lexicon. The pace of change seems unrelenting. And we are left to decide what is real and what is virtual, what will last and what will turn out to be a temporary diversion.

The recent sales of the Washington Post and the Boston Globe to successful entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos and John Henry, respectively, provide me with an opportunity to talk with you for a moment about our business philosophy here at Zoomba Group and what it means to you, our reader.

As a former operator and distributor sales rep, I understand the critical overlap between these two vital roles in the successful implementation of a foodservice plan of action.

That's how Chef Kevin Hickey of The Four Seasons Chicago referred to FE&S' Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala while addressing the crowd at this year's event.

Wow! It is hard to believe that this issue of FE&S marks the halfway point of 2013. Joe Carbonara and the entire editorial team have managed to bring you stories from all over the United States, giving you our take on the people and projects making a difference in the foodservice equipment and supplies community.

I was re-reading several past Parting Shot articles written by a variety of industry insiders, including dealers, manufacturers, operators, service agents and consultants. Not surprisingly, this feature consistently ranks among our most widely read sections of the magazine. The wisdom and passion that your peers express on the last page of Foodservice Equipment & Supplies often contains the most thought-provoking ideas that we print each month.

Or, customer engagement in an age of virtualization. Sometimes there is just no substitute for meeting with a customer or business partner face to face.