On behalf of the entire Zoomba Group team, I would like to thank all the sponsors, attendees and award winners for a very special night in May at the 2025 FE&S Dealer of the Year & All-Industry Awards Gala. 

When you spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a person or company deserving of special recognition, as we often do here at Zoomba Group, it is impossible not to think about the common attributes shared by FE&S award winners.

Just as December is a natural month to reflect on changes that occurred over the course of the previous year, January is a natural month to look forward to the trends that seem likely to impact business in the year ahead. In this issue we focus on the major changes that are likely to impact the commercial foodservice industry in 2025.

As another year draws to a close, the value of gathering is again highlighted. 

As everyone in the foodservice community knows, food is more than just the nutrition it provides — food communicates. And what it communicates depends on how it’s prepared, who it’s prepared by and who is sitting around the table to enjoy it.

Editorial Director Joe Carbonara is an easy person to talk to. Whether the topic is arcane business data related to equipment and supplies, evolving trends in the more general foodservice environment, or just about anything in between, Joe always has something interesting to say and usually a unique perspective that is worth listening to.

May is an exciting month for us here at FE&S magazine and this year is no exception.

Over the years, I’ve made it a point not to be a name-dropper in my publisher’s letter. In general, it’s of little interest to you the audience and only serves to make me sound important by virtue of mere association. This month is an exception to that rule in order to tell you about the SHFM WISE Experience, a fantastic event that I had the good fortune to attend earlier this year. 

There is a lot going on in this busy month for the foodservice industry. Thanks to this being a leap year, we’ve got an extra day in February and that’s a good thing because it looks like we are going to need it! Coming off the heels of a bustling MAFSI conference in Palm Springs, Calif., the first few weeks of February are chocked full of learning and networking opportunities.

December is traditionally a good month to take stock and look forward to the coming year.

Great dealer sales reps are problem-solvers for their clients. From major decisions like right-sizing a piece of equipment to a particular menu application to day-to-day problems like making sure the dishes are getting clean or food is being stored properly, DSRs can have a huge impact on an operation’s overall effectiveness.

Need a sign things have returned to something approaching normal this fall? On September 19, 2023, FE&S will bring back our Tour the Trends event in Chicago.

For regular readers of FE&S, you might be tempted to skim past the masthead on page 4 because, thankfully, the names and titles haven’t changed very much over the past 12 years.

With only days to go before the FE&S Dealer of the Year & All-Industry Awards Gala 2023, which will take place May 20 at the Four Seasons Chicago, our excitement continues to grow.

This might have been the unofficial motto of The NAFEM Show 2023, which took place Feb. 1-3 in Orlando, Fla.

Once the province of c-stores and grocers, the pandemic ushered in a new era of grab-and-go competitors in the form of restaurants, corporate dining and just about anywhere else that serves food.

As we enter 2023, there’s no shortage of things to talk about in this first issue of FE&S. 

As we turn the page on 2022 with our final issue of FE&S for the year, you will notice a ride-along publication that leans into the promise of 2023. It is FE&S’ guide for The NAFEM Show 2023, and it is not too soon to begin planning your visit to Orlando this winter.

It is with a heightened sense of gratitude that I approach this holiday season, especially as I look through the pictures and read the coverage of the 2022 Foodservice Equipment & Design Global Thought Leadership Summit. I am thankful for the entire Zoomba Group team who stepped up in my absence to make sure we had a magnificent event. 

News of the day have you feeling weary? Have you run out of things to watch on Netflix?

As a guest at a recent buying group conference, I was reminded of a simple truth that any parent can easily relate to: One major factor in success, no matter how we choose to define success for ourselves, is who we choose to be around. The people who surround us — family, friends, co-workers and business associates — have a tremendous influence over what we strive for, what we value and who we become.

If one theme emerges from the stories of FE&S 2022 award winners, it would have to be persistence in the face of challenge. Indeed, many of these award winners leveraged their resourceful nature to find ways to achieve when many companies were simply trying to survive.

We are proud to extend our congratulations to the all-star roster of foodservice professionals who will be recognized at the FE&S 2022 Dealer of the Year & All-Industry Awards Gala, taking place the Saturday of the National Restaurant Association Show, which this year falls on May 21, 2022. As always, the event will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.

There is a lot to be said for the concept of co-branding in the restaurant business. With little effort, it is easy to see how complementary operations can bolster one another and maximize the precious labor and real estate expenses that figure so heavily in the bottom-line success or failure of any venture.

Here at Zoomba Group, we’ve taken a divide and conquer approach to our return to industry travel. Like all of you, we are trying to be mindful about where to go, who to see and for how long.

If you take a moment to check out the table of contents page of this issue you may notice the postal marking at the top of the page that indicates that this is volume 74, number 12 for this publication. That means that in January of 2022 we will be entering our 75th year of continuous publication.

If you missed the first two installments of our FED Lunch & Learn series, you may want to circle back and catch up by listening to the archived one-hour presentations at FEDThoughtLeadership.com, before the third and final installment on Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. CST. For the investment of your time, what you will gain is valuable

I’m a big believer in awards and award ceremonies when they are done right. One of the hardest parts of the past two years, as we have collectively struggled to cope with the changes imposed upon us by COVID-19, has been finding a way to appropriately honor our own FE&S industry award winners. Normal award ceremonies have been impossible to pull off.

Any dealer sales rep worth their salt has developed the ability to adapt to unexpected changes. In real life, orders don’t always come in on time, plans and circumstances around installations change, and sometimes the wider world imposes with unanticipated disruptions.

The past 18 months have been trying on all businesses. Foodservice and publishing have not been immune. Back when the pandemic first started everyone thought, or hoped is probably more like it, that this would be a short-term situation. And the mantra of many companies was to do what it took to weather the storm and emerge from this even stronger.