Troop Café operates like any other restaurant — almost. While we serve great food, our actual mission is to train U.S. military veterans in foodservice and hospitality with the end goal of transitioning them to jobs in the hospitality/foodservice industry.
Aaron Yohn was working on cars for a living just seven years ago when a friend told him about an opening at K&D Factory Service Inc. (KDFSI).
We have a trifecta of great events on the horizon. It all starts in May with our annual Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala, which coincides with the National Restaurant Association's annual trade show, which takes place May 19-22 in Chicago.
Ahuge fan of alliteration, Jeff Sinelli came up with the Which Wich name during a brainstorming session. He notes that many of the most iconic brands incorporate alliteration, such as Coca-Cola, Dunkin' Donuts, Best Buy and American Airlines. Since founding Which Wich in 2003, the chain has expanded to 430 locations and should come close to having 500 U.S. stores by next year. While the chain does have a few corporate locations, the operation primarily runs through a franchisee network.
No one and no company can stay the same forever. Without growing and flexing all the time, we become stagnant, a path that inevitably limits opportunities. Getting comfortable with change and bringing something to the table that promotes growth are imperative not only to success but to the very survival of all companies in the foodservice industry.
Looking back the other day at the publisher's letter that I wrote one year ago in the November 2016 issue of FE&S, recapping our first Foodservice Equipment & Design (FED) Global Thought Leadership Summit, I realized that, as hard as it is to believe, it is already time to start planning for our second event. It will be held at the Radisson Blu in Chicago next year September 10-12.
In the last three years, Whitewater, Wis.-based Toppers Pizza has doubled in size to an 84-store chain, 21 of which are company owned and the rest franchised. Founder Scott Gittrich created a systemwide partnership with Feeding America to provide food to hungry families in need, and the chain's franchisees additionally participate in many local-level charitable activities.
Glenn Clark Jr. has been in the foodservice industry for nearly 30 years (42 years if you count the time spent working in the field with his father when he was young). He gained sole ownership of Clark Service Group in January.
As a woman who has worked closely with men in male-dominated industries for more than three decades, you can believe the #MeToo movement holds some resonance for me.
It's challenging to generalize the process of selecting the right tabletop items. Some foodservice operators start with aesthetics; others focus on the exact price point they want to hit. For others, durability is a top priority.
In this issue of FE&S you will find a couple of key content updates.
We know that we are asking a lot from our readers to participate in a study that takes so long to complete. The entire Best in Class (BIC) survey is broken up into three parts and each one takes about 45 minutes to fill out. That is a huge time commitment in a digital world that routinely measures time spent on a web page, for instance, in seconds and not minutes.
After working as a bank teller and broker by the age of 25, Ashley Morris may have only envisioned a career in finance. But, after brainstorming business ideas with longtime friend Jason Smylie, who was looking to partner as entrepreneurs, he found himself in the restaurant world. The duo became franchisees of one Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop in 2004, where they frequently flocked during college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. They purchased the chain outright in 2008. Since then, Morris has guided the brand as CEO, more than tripling it in size, with plans to open 500 locations nationwide by 2025.
It is December and that means it's time for the annual directory issue of FE&S as well as for my annual dose of humility as a prognosticator. For the record, in the last year I have also been wrong about the durability of Bitcoin, the outcome of Brexit and the timing of the first female president of the United States.
French fries have become a constant companion with hamburgers — and with good reason: they are perfect together! Such is the case at Five Guys. We are a fast-casual burger concept with more than 1,450 locations spanning 49 states and nine countries.
Whether a foodservice operator plans to open their first location or wants to add scale to an existing concept, they often fall prey to the same mistakes.
Rutter’s is a network of 68 convenience stores. Fifty-five of our locations feature made-to-order foodservice operations, while the remaining 13 locations use a more traditional c-store foodservice model, including menu items cooked on roller grills.
We've always been strong proponents of developing an emergency plan. Each situation has something different to contend with, but regardless of the reason — hurricanes, wildfires, snowstorms, whatever — when power goes out, our experience has proven to us that having an emergency plan can be quite helpful.
I’m a big fan of cooperation … in business, this can mean seemingly disparate groups establishing and working toward a mutual goal that ultimately benefits all parties.
