Our subscribing foodservice operators, dealers and consultants make their selections for the best of the best among foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturers.

Every equipment and supplies manufacturer plays their own unique role in shaping the foodservice industry's success, but only a few can truly claim they are Best in Class in the eyes of their customers. That's because the only way to achieve this elite status is to provide value on the customer's terms across multiple disciplines. With that in mind, Foodservice Equipment and Supplies presents the data from our 2013 Best in Class Study.

During the past few months FE&S asked its subscribing operators, consultants and dealers to evaluate equipment and supplies manufacturers on seven critical characteristics that impact their purchasing decisions. These seven performance factors are:

• Product quality
• Product value
• Product design and aesthetics
• Service and support
• Sales representation
• Product inventory and availability
• Product information availability

Those participating in the survey prioritized these factors in order of importance and then rated the individual factories they work with in a given product category on these attributes. The individual results were then combined with those from other participants from the category to create a composite score and identify those manufacturers that the readers of FE&S feel are the Best in Class for each of 48 product categories.

These comprehensive results highlight those factories that establish the benchmark for understanding and meeting the needs of the entire distribution channel.

Here we proudly present the winners from our 2013 study.

• Best in Class Overall (below)
• Dealers
• Operators
• Consultants