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

 The business environment for foodservice operators across all industry segments remains as complex as it ever has been.

Consumers continue to heed the value-conscious spending habits that took shape during the recession, labor pressures in the form of municipally mandated wage increases, competition from an improving job market, and the need to come to terms with the Affordable Care Act — these are just some of the pressures operators continue to face.

As a result, operators, consultants and dealers need to pick manufacturer partners that will meet a variety of performance targets, including product quality, product value, product design and aesthetics, service and support, sales representation, product inventory and availability, and product specs as they search for solutions to complex business requirements. In FE&S' annual Best in Class study, our subscribing foodservice operators, consultants and dealers evaluate the manufacturer community on these very attributes.

Individual results were 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 product category.

While every foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturer contributes to the industry's success in their own way, 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 2015 study.

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