Expect the foodservice industry to take a small step forward next year, due to operating conditions and consumers’ ability to spend likely being eerily similar to 2024.

No doubt today’s operating environment remains a pretty complicated one for restaurants.

What’s old is new again in the foodservice industry as operators and the supply chain prepare for 2024.

A new year always brings a sense of renewal and (hopefully) optimism as we look ahead — this feels necessary this year perhaps more than ever. The airways truly seem to be clearing – for now — so let’s try to look at that glass halfway full, shall we?

Back in March of 2020, the notion of supply chain challenges associated with foodservice equipment and supplies seemed highly unlikely. Manufacturers’ capacity to produce such items was greater than operators’ ability to consume them. Then the pandemic hit and turned everything upside down. What once took weeks to produce now took months seemingly in the blink of an eye.

Supply chain issues have been a hot topic in the foodservice industry for the past few years. While most of the conversation and consternation have focused on longer lead times and higher prices, a handful of other broad issues continue to impact the individual links on the supply chain that provides foodservice operators with equipment and supplies.

Recently, I was invited to a gathering of chain restaurant operators and the support centers of said chains.

Industry trends and issues as seen through the eyes of those who specify kitchen equipment

Supply chain issues continue to impact every product category; tabletop is no exception.

The foodservice industry continues to move on from its COVID-19 ways, but a variety of macroeconomic influences continue to slow that progress.

A few months ago, supply chain woes were all over the news. People had money to spend, but a lot of things— lumber, cars, cream cheese — were hard to get. Events have pushed supply chains out of the headlines, but that doesn’t mean supply chain woes are completely healed. Indeed, the commercial kitchen equipment industry continues to struggle with parts shortages.

Some may view a table in a restaurant simply as a place to enjoy a meal with clients, family and friends, with knives, forks and plates just serving a basic purpose.

Flexible design, a rethinking of service flow and multiuse equipment are all making headway in school foodservice programs.

Michael Brady, Southern California Restaurant Design Group

Supply chain issues have made repairing old equipment and purchasing new units harder than ever. Understandably, some operators must now consider purchasing new equipment from manufacturers that are new to them and, in some cases, they may have never even heard of these companies before. Often this equipment is far cheaper than the known factories.

At this point, it should come as no surprise that supply chain issues impact kitchen equipment repairs. The waits for some parts, though, are truly shocking.

Kevin Morgan, Dealer Sales Rep, Kittredge Singer, Bowe, N.H.

The restaurant industry is full of stories that include someone taking a job in their teens not realizing they were about to embark on a lifelong career and professional love affair. Such is the case with Meghan Lee, owner of Heirloom restaurant, a farm-to-table concept, set in Lewes, Del.

Two areas of concern: supply chain issues and labor shortages.

Talk to any foodservice designer right now and you’ll hear them talk about the same ongoing challenge: dealing with lingering supply chain issues caused by the pandemic.

Jake Landers, TriMark South

Lenny Douglass, Bargreen Ellingson

Starbucks opens a cashier-less location. Papa John's delivers a new identity. A haunting amount of ghost kitchen news. These stories and more this week in foodservice.

Quick-service chicken chain Zaxby’s promoted Keith Anderkin to the newly created position of chief supply chain officer. Anderkin started at Zaxby’s as vice president of supply chain and quality assurance in June 2020.

Labor remains in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Supply chain issues make school foodservice operations more complex. Ghost kitchens come to a U.S. Walmart location. One multiconcept operator has a big appetite for Middle Eastern expansion. These stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

As foodservice operators continue to evolve, so too must the supply chain that serves them. From a distance, though, it may not look as if a lot has changed among the individual links in the foodservice equipment supply chain. But a closer look reveals much has changed about the way that individual companies go to market, how they work with each other and more.

Bojangles tapped Katie Radtke to serve as vice president of supply chain.

Glen McIntosh was introduced as chief supply chain officer for Michigan-based pizza chain Little Caesars.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. consistently declining in recent weeks has led many states and municipalities to start loosening restrictions for restaurants and other foodservice operations. Reopening, though, has unveiled another problem produced by the pandemic: equipment and supplies-related supply chain issues affecting everyone in the foodservice industry from manufacturers to reps to dealers to end-users.