Industry Spotlight

 

Subway to Celebrate Tax Day with 1,040 Free Footlongs
Filing 1040 tax forms is no fun. But 1,040 free footlongs? That’s a Tax Day refund Americans can get behind! With everyday costs and living expenses seemingly rising by the day, even taxpayers lucky enough to get a refund from the IRS this year may see it disappear quickly.

That’s why Subway is offering Sub Club members more than a free footlong with the purchase of another footlong through April 28 on Subway.com and the Subway app*. 1,040 randomly selected members who use the promo code FLBOGO on Tax Day, April 15, will also receive a surprise free Footlong coupon deposited directly into their account as a “refund” from Subway.***

“Tax Day can be tough, especially for folks who are getting a bill this year instead of a break when they need it most,” said Dave Skena, Chief Marketing Officer, North America. “Whether you are using our Buy One Get One Free footlong* offer or are one of the 1,040 footlong ‘refund’ recipients, we hope a freshly made, handcrafted and delicious sandwich from Subway provides some relief.”

To join Sub Club** or learn more about this limited time offer and other great deals from Subway, including Sub of the Day and Meal of the Day, visit the Subway app or Subway.com.

*Redeemable at participating U.S. restaurants. Subway app/online orders only. Sub Club members only. Free Footlong sub of equal/lesser price. Add-ons addt’l. Plus tax. 1 use per order. Cannot combine with other offers. Excludes Fresh Fit, 5 Meat Italian, & Big Hot Pastrami. Limited time.

**Sub Club available at participating restaurants and not on third-party delivery, catering, or purchases of gift cards. See subway.com for more details about Sub Club.

***NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to legal residents of the 50 US/DC, 18 years of age and older, who are Subway® Sub Club members. Void where prohibited by law. Promotion open on April 15, 2026 only. 1040 ‘Free Footlong’ offers available to be won. Official Rules, including No Purchase Necessary method of entry, prize details, and restrictions available at: https://subway.app.link/TaxDay Sponsor: Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust Ltd., 1 Corporate Drive, Suite 1000, Shelton, CT 06484.

Source https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/subway-to-celebrate-tax-day-with-1040-free-footlongs/

 

A group of independent restaurants wants the FTC to block Sysco-Restaurant Depot deal
The Independent Restaurant Coalition says that the giant distributor’s proposed $29 billion acquisition of the cash-and-carry provider would eliminate a key alternative for many operators.

The Independent Restaurant Coalition is calling on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block Sysco’s proposed acquisition of Restaurant Depot, saying that the deal would eliminate a crucial alternative used by many local operators.

In a statement on Monday, the coalition cited Sysco’s comments on the deal saying that it would create an “omnichannel partner for the entire foodservice industry.”

“The Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) believes the FTC must scrutinize that ambition for exactly what it is: the elimination of Restaurant Depot, the one meaningful wholesale alternative in many regions that independent restaurants have used for decades to avoid the minimum order requirements, delivery fees and pricing power of the nation’s largest food distributor, Sysco,” the group said in its statement.

The IRC was formed at the outset of the pandemic, in March of 2020, and represents thousands of local and independent restaurants.

Sysco surprised much of the restaurant world on Monday by announcing a planned acquisition of Jetro Restaurant Depot for $29.1 billion in cash and stock. The deal was largely panned on Wall Street amid fears that the distributor would amass too much debt in the acquisition.

But it also generated some fears among local restaurants worried about the impact on the prices and food quality they’ll get at Restaurant Depot. Sysco is the largest broadline distributor of food and other goods to foodservice companies around the country.

Restaurant Depot, meanwhile, is the largest provider of so-called cash-and-carry distribution in the foodservice sector. The company operates 166 warehouses in metro areas around the country, giving some 725,000 mostly small, local restaurant operators a source of food, paper and other goods at generally lower prices.

Sysco touted the deal as good for both companies, saying that its supply chain reach would enable Restaurant Depot to expand more rapidly. CEO Kevin Hourican noted that the cash-and-carry business is growing more rapidly than distribution and is a $60 billion to $70 billion market. “Cash and carry is a large and growing business, and it is not a business segment that Sysco meaningfully participates in today,” he told investors on Monday.

Erika Polmar, executive director with the IRC, said in a statement that the deal could leave smaller restaurants with fewer choices.

“For decades, Restaurant Depot has been the great equalizer for independent restaurants, the place where a small operator could walk in and get the same price as everyone else, no contract, no negotiation, no leverage required,” she said. “Sysco’s acquisition of Restaurant Depot doesn’t just limit competition, it changes the playing field entirely in Sysco’s favor, leaving independent restaurants with fewer real choices.”

She also cited ongoing struggles by independent restaurants coming out of the pandemic. Rising costs have eaten into profit margins, and the average operator makes thinner margins than they did before the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. (That group has not taken a position on the Sysco-Restaurant Depot deal, according to a spokesperson.)

“Independent restaurants are already fighting every single day against rising costs and shrinking margins,” Polmar said. “Handing the nation’s largest food distributor a monopoly over the wholesale staples channel is a gut punch to every neighborhood restaurant in America, and the FTC has both the authority and the obligation to stop it.”

The IRC noted that Sysco plans $250 million in cost “synergies,” through combined procurement, “a figure that signals the merged company’s intent to leverage its dominant purchasing power to extract supplier prices that no remaining competitor can match.”

It also took issue with Sysco’s claim that the customer bases of the two companies do not match. Both companies serve independent operators, who will use both channels. They may get regular deliveries from Sysco and then supplement them with regular purchases from Restaurant Depot.

“That substitution behavior is the definition of a competitive market,” the IRC said. “Eliminating one side of it is the definition of anticompetitive consolidation.”

Sysco does have substantial competitors in the broadline market, notably US Foods and Performance Food Group, which recently abandoned talks that would have merged the two and created an even bigger distribution behemoth than Sysco.

US Foods does have its own cash-and-carry operation, called Chef’Store, which it acquired in 2020. But in 2024 the distributor announced plans to sell that operation, which now numbers about 100 locations, noting that benefits from such a combination have been “very limited.”

Still, IRC said that Sysco buying Restaurant Depot would eliminate competition. “Allowing Sysco to absorb the dominant wholesale cash-and-carry channel would eliminate a form of competition that no remaining distributor can replicate, compounding cost pressures that will be felt in every neighborhood in America,” the group said.

Source https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/group-independent-restaurants-wants-ftc-block-sysco-restaurant-depot-deal

 

California’s $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers led to ‘negative outcomes,’ researchers say
Stephen Owen of UC Santa Cruz cited higher menu prices, reduced hours, lost benefits and accelerating automation

Researchers found that California’s minimum wage hike for fast-food workers led to “negative outcomes” such as automation and reduced work hours.

The researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz suggested in a report published in March that the policy could produce unintended consequences such as an increase in menu prices, a loss of overtime and benefits, reductions in employee working hours, and an implementation of automation that replaces workers.

The minimum wage for workers was $16 before the $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers became law in April 2024. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in September 2023 the increase would help workers earn more as the cost-of-living rises.

Karen Bass at an NBA event
Mayor Karen Bass signed a law mandating that hourly wages must be raised in the hotel and airport industry by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.

RESTAURANTS WARN TIPPED WAGE CHANGES COULD RAISE PRICES, CUT JOBS, RESHAPE DINING EXPERIENCE

“The results indicate a plethora of negative outcomes such as higher menu prices for consumers, reductions in employee working hours, widespread elimination of overtime and loss of benefits for employees,” said Stephen Owen, an economics lecturer, University of California, Santa Cruz.

“Further decreases in employee opportunities are being driven by automation and the adoption of labor replacement technologies is accelerating.”

The report came after a Berkeley Research Group study discovered that there were 10,700 jobs lost between June 2023 and June 2024 in the sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The prices at the establishments soared by 14.5% after the new minimum wage became law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in September 2023 that the minimum wage increase in the fast-food industry would help workers earn more as the cost-of-living rises.

BUSINESS OWNER SAYS ‘WE DON’T HAVE MONEY’ AS NYC OFFICIALS PROPOSE MINIMUM WAGE HIKE: REPORT

Despite the findings, California officials doubled down on minimum wage laws.

A phased-in minimum wage hike in Los Angeles mandated up to $30 per hour for airport and hotel workers. The law was signed into law last year by Mayor Karen Bass, mandating that their hourly wage must be raised by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.

The Hotel Association of Los Angeles (HALA) recently commissioned a study that found hotels have eliminated or expect to eliminate 6% of positions, roughly 650 jobs, since the Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance took effect in September.

While these laws raise concern from business owners, advocates in Oakland, California are pushing for a $30 minimum wage.

NYC $30 MINIMUM WAGE PROPOSAL PUSHED BY MAMDANI WOULD ‘OBLITERATE’ CERTAIN INDUSTRIES: EXPERT WARNS

Zohran Mamdani in February 2026
On the East Coast, the city council in New York City is considering boosting the minimum wage up to $30 and Mayor Zohran Mamdani signaled on the campaign trail that he could make it a reality.

On the East Coast, the city council in New York City is weighing a proposal to boost the minimum wage to up to $30 — a move that newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani signaled that he would sign on the campaign trail — causing consternation among the business community.

The proposal from New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse, a Democrat representing Brooklyn, would require employers to pay workers $25 an hour if those employers provide qualifying benefits and $30 an hour if not. The current $17 minimum wage would undergo a phased increase to reach $30 per hour by 2030 for businesses with 500+ employees and $29 by 2032 for smaller businesses.

Business owners in New York City reportedly warned of dire consequences if the law passes.

“We feel like we’re at a tipping point with consumers,” said Melissa Fleischut, president of the New York State Restaurant Association.

The mandate was a campaign pledge from Mamdani, who promoted a “$30 by ’30′” minimum wage message.

Newsom’s office contacted Fox News Digital after publication and said the analysis of the study was flawed, not peer-reviewed, and made claims that were “flat wrong.”

“The facts are clear: higher wages are strengthening our economy and lifting workers out of poverty,” a spokesperson said.

Newsom’s office also sent another study it calls “more comprehensive” that counters Owen’s findings. The study, published by the University of California-Berkeley, found that workers covered by the policy saw wage increases of up to 11% and a growth in fast food establishments.

“Our results coincide with most of the minimum wage studies,” said Michael Reich, one of the authors of the study. “Minimum wage increases have minimal effects on jobs, make it easier for employers to recruit and retain workers, and lead to modest price increases—in this case, about six cents for a $4 hamburger.”

Owen did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Source https://www.foxnews.com/media/californias-minimum-wage-hike-led-negative-outcomes-like-automation-reduced-work-hours-report

 

Papa Murphy’s challenges continued in Q1
Parent company MTY Group acquired about 50 underperforming locations from franchisees last year and their turnaround is ‘more complicated than anticipated’

MTY Food Group, parent company of Papa Murphy’s and several other brands, reported first quarter results late last week, including a same-store sales decline of 2.5%. System sales were $1.3 billion for the quarter, compared to $1.36 billion in Q1 2025.

Though MTY doesn’t break out individual chain’s sales, take-and-bake pizza chain Papa Murphy’s — the company’s largest concept — continued its struggles.

“Papa Murphy’s is certainly facing headwinds in terms of sales right now,” chief executive officer Eric Lefebvre said during the call Friday before market. “Papa Murphy’s had a reasonable 2024, but then ’25 was complicated, and that’s continuing in 2026.”

MTY acquired about 50 underperforming locations from Papa Murphy’s franchisees last year. During the company’s second quarter 2025 earnings call, Lefebvre said the stores’ turnaround was expected to take between nine and 12 months. On Friday, however, he took a more cautionary tone.

“It’s proving to be more complicated than anticipated. We do see somewhat of a sales lift and some improvement in the way we operate the business, but it’s taking longer than we thought to turn those around. We are suffering losses with these restaurants,” he said. “We’re not giving up. We still believe in these restaurants. The fundamentals that were there in the markets still exist. But it’s not impossible that we might have to make decisions with certain stores if we’re continuing to incur losses, and we see that there might be less hope.”

MTY completed its acquisition of Papa Murphy’s in May 2019 for approximately $190 million. Since 2020, sales have declined by 11.4%, while over 21.5% of the system has closed.

Lefebvre said Papa Murphy’s is deploying customer-facing tech tools, including a relaunch of its loyalty program, that will ideally “create a dent in the trajectory.”

“There’s many goals — you have customer acquisition and then you have your customer win-back — consumers you might have lost or that might have forgotten about you. Then, you have initiatives for existing consumers to improve frequency or basket,” he said. “We’re also revising the way we do marketing and which promotions we want to push a little bit harder for Papa Murphy’s. We have the Detroit pizza out now. It seems to be creating some excitement around the brand and, hopefully, that’s going to result in more repeat business going forward.”

During the company’s fourth quarter call in February, Lefebvre said Papa Murphy’s had showed signs of stabilization, but the overall environment remained tough.

“It’s hard to know exactly when that’s going to happen because we have good periods and then sometimes there’s periods that are a little bit more challenging that follow,” he said. “We are in a volatile environment where we’re trying a lot of things and improve sales on a sustainable basis. But it remains challenging. Pizza is super competitive and a lot of our competitors have very aggressive promotions that are hard for us to match.”

In addition to acquiring underperforming franchised locations, MTY also closed some stores last year and shifted its capital and focus back to local marketing.

In 2025, the take-and-bake chain’s systemwide sales fell 3% year-over-year to $706.5 million, while its unit count fell by 2.9% to end the year with 1,014 locations, according to new data from Technomic Ignite. That is nearly 20% lower sales and 500 fewer units than just 10 years ago.

Notably, Papa Murphy’s isn’t the only pizza chain navigating a tough environment. In 2024, the pizza segment overall struggled significantly, with Technomic’s Top 500 Restaurants data showing 61% of pizza chains experienced declining sales.

Contact Alicia Kelso at Alicia.Kelso@informa.com

Follow her on TikTok: @aliciakelso

Source https://www.nrn.com/restaurant-finance/papa-murphy-s-challenges-continued-in-q1

 

Church’s Texas Chicken plots 600-unit expansion in China
The company’s international brand, Texas Chicken, will open its first unit in Shanghai this summer as it continues its global expansion.

Dive Brief:
Texas Chicken, the overseas arm of Church’s Texas Chicken, has signed a deal with Deke Shengtang to develop at least 600 restaurants across China over the next few years, according to a press release.
The first restaurant in the country will open in Shanghai this summer.
This is the largest international development agreement in the company’s history and bolsters the chain’s efforts to boost its international presence. China will be the chain’s 27th international market.

Dive Insight:
Texas Chicken, Church’s brand for international markets, has gained significant momentum globally, last year it announced a plan to open 900 global units in the near future. The brand followed that up with new openings across Europe and other markets last year. Texas Chicken and Church’s have over 1,500 units globally, and the international agreements announced last year, combined with its 600-store China commitment, will double its footprint over time.

“This is more than growth. It’s a defining moment for our brand, said Roland Gonzalez, CEO of Church’s Texas Chicken and Texas Chicken. “China is one of the most dynamic and influential consumer markets in the world.”

Several other chains have made big bets on China, recently. Subway signed a deal with a local operator in Mainland China in 2023 to develop 4,000 units over the next two decades. Papa Johns is in the midst of opening over 1,350 units with FountainVest Partners by 2040, though FountainVest may be looking to sell the brand’s operations. Last year, Restaurant Brands International entered a joint venture with CPE to expand Burger King in China from 1,250 units to 4,000 by the end of 2035. Starbucks sold a majority stake in its China business to Boyu Capital, which plans to grow the chain from 8,000 units to 20,000 locations.

A bulk of Church’s development pipeline, roughly 80%, is currently for international units, but Gonzalez previously told Restaurant Dive that that gap will narrow over time as it continues to build momentum in the U.S. with new and existing franchisees. The company’s domestic average unit volume has improved by about $250,000 over the past few years, and several existing franchisees are remodeling their stores and seeing sales improve.

As of 2024, Church’s had 873 stores in the U.S., but that marked a 127-unit decline since 2022 when it had 1,000 units, according to the chain’s 2025 franchise disclosure document. In 2024, franchisees opened seven units, and the brand projected 34 franchisee openings in 2025.

Source https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/churchs-texas-chicken-china-600-units-deke-shengtang/817292/

 

Starbucks hires Chipotle’s chief development officer
Stephen Piacentini will help the coffee chain execute its ambitious renovation and development plans as part of the Back to Starbucks initiative.

Name: Stephen Piacentini

New title: Executive vice president, chief coffeehouse design and development officer, Starbucks

Previous title: Chief development officer, Chipotle

Starbucks confirmed it is bringing on Stephen Piacentini to lead the development of its coffeehouses. Piacentini, who helped lead Chipotle across the 4,000-store mark last year, joins Starbucks in the middle of an ambitious campaign to renovate thousands of its coffee shops and reclaim its role as a space focused on in-person experiences, rather than simple throughput.

Piacentini will focus on customer and worker experience, operational excellence and growth, the company said. Meredith Sandland, who previously had the same job title as Piacentini, will shift toward a role focused on the future of Starbucks’ stores.

Piacentini started at Chipotle when that brand was led by Brian Niccol, Starbucks’ current CEO. Prior to Chipotle, Piacentini worked in development roles at Wendy’s, including as U.S. chief development officer, and as CDO at Jimmy John’s, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also spent more than a decade at Taco Bell, with significant overlap with Niccol, who served as CMO, president and later CEO of the chain.

Niccol’s Back to Starbucks campaign includes significant investment in coffeehouse design, with the brand using “softer seating, warm colors and textures on walls and throughout the space, table lamps, plants, a redesigned espresso bar that gives customers a better view of baristas making drinks,” according to a recent Starbucks blog post emphasizing changes to cafes in the Chicago market. Starbucks has previously estimated the cost of refurbishing coffeehouses to these new standards at about $150,000 per store.

Chipotle’s race to 7,000 total units has continued despite challenging conditions with its core consumers in the U.S. market. The brand opened 334 company-operated units last year and is projecting 350 to 370 openings this year.

Source https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/starbucks-chipotle-chief-development-officer-stephen-piacentini/817185/

 

Franchisee lawsuit describes Roll Em Up Taquitos as a Ponzi scheme
A group of current and former franchise operators allege fraud, saying the franchisor misrepresented the viability of the fast-casual business, leaving them stuck with hundreds of thousands in losses.

The franchisor of the Roll Em Up Taquitos brand has been sued by a group of franchisees who describe the operation as a Ponzi scheme masked as a restaurant franchise.

The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of California, Riverside County, was initially filed in July 2025 and is ongoing. But CEO and founder Ryan Usrey appears to have evaded court officials, after months of attempts to reach him. An attorney most recently known as representing Usrey did not respond to requests for comment.

In the lawsuit, five former and current franchisees of the brand have charged Usrey, former Chief Development Officer Chris Wyland, and Director of IT and Restaurant Manager Cody Soscia with fraud, negligent misrepresentation of the business and misappropriation of funds.

The three are described in the filing as key figures who controlled the operation.

The franchisees are seeking compensatory damages, saying they face financial ruin after investing in a brand that was misrepresented from the start as a viable business.

Roll Em Up is a fast-casual concept founded in 2019 by Usrey, who opened the first restaurant in Chino Hills, California, using his “mama Karen’s” taquito recipes. The company began franchising in 2021.

The lawsuit described Usrey, Wyland and Soscia as “ring leaders of a type of Ponzi scheme masked in the guise of a restaurant franchise operation, Roll Em Up Taquitos,” according to court documents.

The franchisees say in the filing that Roll Em Up made a series of misrepresentations and omissions, offering inflated performance numbers to prospective franchisees to lure them into their scheme.

“Once prospective franchisees took the bait, they then had to pay royalties and other franchisee fees to [the franchisor]. In return, [the franchisor] provided no support,” the lawsuit states.

The franchisees argue that Roll Em Up “failed miserably to provide any of their obligatory duties to franchisees, essentially leaving all franchisees to financial failure.”

The lawsuit outlines a number of misleading statements by Roll Em Up, including the promise that operating the fast-casual concept was “simple” and that anyone, even those without restaurant experience, could do it.

The franchisees also argue that Roll Em Up misrepresented the cost of goods and labor, as well as the annual sales of three units in Southern California, which the franchisor said produced between $1.8 million to $2.6 million in annual sales.

Roll Em Up also told the franchisees that the business model would be profitable with serving freshly rolled taquitos—but that operators would be even more profitable by serving “flash frozen” taquitos made fresh daily in a proprietary kitchen.

What was supplied, however, were frozen taquitos from “questionable suppliers,” that the franchise operators said were poor quality, often breaking during the cooking process, court documents said.

Other misrepresentations were also made, like the availability of Halal meat, access to supplies of cups and plates with the brand logo, the availability of an e-commerce website for ordering supplies, and social media support, all of which, the lawsuit states, was lacking.

The lawsuit also questions Roll Em Up’s claims that former professional football player DeSean Jackson was a “celebrity investor” in the brand, including his photo in the “Brand Book.”

The franchisees argue that Roll Em Up left some important information out of franchise disclosure documents, including past litigation.

Roll Em Up, for example, did not disclose litigation dating back to 2014 involving Wyland, who was represented to franchisees as Roll Em Up’s chief development officer in the early years. (Wyland in the past said he served as a consultant at Roll Em Up and divested a minority stake in late 2022.)

Wyland, however, previously owned a vending-machine company called Grow Healthy Vending LLC (or Grow Franchise Group LLC). He was accused in Washington state and Utah of fraud and misrepresentation in two separate cases. That business was ordered to stop operating in both states.

Had that information about Wyland’s past been disclosed, the franchisees said they would not have invested in Roll Em Up, the lawsuit states.

Wyland and Soscia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit also cites several examples of millions lost after franchisees invested in the brand.

Plaintiffs Cameron Jackman and William May, under PMR Group LLC, for example, in 2022 signed a franchise agreement for five Roll Em Up locations in Arizona, investing $100,000, or $20,000 each.

PMR invested more than $548,000 to build a unit in Chandler, and $379,000 to open in Gilbert.

The Chandler restaurant operated for about seven months, never achieving more than $70,000 in any month.

“The Chandler, Arizona location never hit ‘break even,’ much less profitability,” the lawsuit said. The unit closed in October 2023, and the company’s operational losses totaled $161,324, and guarantors were still facing liability for the lease, the lawsuit said.

PMR’s Gilbert unit, likewise, never broke even and continued to accrue operational losses of up to $10,000 or more a month, at the time of the lawsuit filing. The restaurant had a 15-year lease.

The allegations from other franchisees in the lawsuit were similar.

Jon and Sarah Ramos opened a unit in July 2024 that lasted less than a year, closing in January 2025. The Ramoses said they invested about $600,000, and also still faced liability for their leases as of the lawsuit’s filing date.

Another franchisee operating as Borrowed LLC invested $100,000 for rights to Orange County, California. That franchisee was investing based on the promise that Halal proteins would be available.

After investing more than $756,000 to build in Irvine, California, the location “lost its ability to sell Halal” taquitos, which resulted in the loss of $985,130 for the operator, the lawsuit states.

The other franchisees named as plaintiffs include Glen Elder, Thelma Lemus, Jon Peleo and the companies GES Group LLC, We Prevail Inc., and 5 Squared LLC.

Fundamentally, the lawsuit alleges that Roll Em Up “stole, misappropriated, embezzled, converted and/or diverted” the franchisees money for their own use.

A hearing on the case is scheduled for July 9.

Roll Em Up has faced several other lawsuits in recent years.

In a case filed in 2024, Usrey was sued by the carmaker Ferrari after he stopped payments on a $415,000 F8 Tributo bought in 2022 in both his and the company’s name. Eventually, Usrey surrendered the car and it was sold at auction, according to court documents in that case.

And another lawsuit filed in 2024 in New Mexico by franchisee FMP Ventures Inc. and Reserve Industries Corp. involves a dispute over a unit in Las Vegas. The franchisee wanted to divest, and the company agreed to buy the location, but payments were not made, according to that lawsuit, which is ongoing.

It’s not clear how many Roll Em Up locations are still operating. The chain’s website lists 14 units, mostly in Southern California, but also restaurants in Las Vegas, Texas, Nebraska and Tennessee.

Source https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/emerging-brands/franchisee-lawsuit-describes-roll-em-taquitos-ponzi-scheme

 

Whataburger Taps Rachel Lorraine as Vice President, Enterprise Insights & Analytics
Whataburger has named Rachel Lorraine as Vice President, Enterprise Insights & Analytics, adding a seasoned analytics and strategy leader to support the brand’s continued growth.

Rachel brings more than 20 years of experience leading analytics, strategy and insights across the restaurant and consumer industries. She joins Whataburger from Yum! Brands, where she was serving as Senior Director, Global Analytics Center of Excellence, leading enterprise analytics across customer, marketing, digital, pricing and operations.

Her previous leadership roles at Yum! Brands and Pizza Hut span pricing, corporate strategy, business intelligence and consumer insights. Prior to that, she managed analytics, forecasting and insights at the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company and began her career in client service at Nielsen, a global leader in media measurement, analytics and insights.

At Whataburger, Rachel will help turn data into actionable insights, better understand guest behavior, identify emerging trends and support more strategic decision-making across the business.

“I am excited by Rachel’s proven track record of building and scaling global analytics and insights organizations and the value she will bring as we continue to grow the Whataburger brand,” said Janelle Sykes, Chief Financial Officer. “Analytics is about more than reporting what happened — it’s about recognizing patterns, understanding the signals our customers and our restaurants are sending us, and translating those insights into smarter decisions about where we go next.”

Rachel began her role March 30.

Source https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/whataburger-taps-rachel-lorraine-as-vice-president-enterprise-insights-analytics/

 

Introducing the Fast Casual FutureMakers: Greenlane
As legacy salad chains face mounting pressure, Greenlane is emerging with a smaller, faster, and more efficient model designed to make healthy food truly accessible.

This year, QSR magazine introduced Fast Casual FutureMakers, a new annual report showcasing brands and founders pushing the category forward in real time.

The 2026 class features three emerging concepts, each representing a different path to growth and innovation.

First up was Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, recognized as the “Rising FutureMaker” for its purpose-driven expansion and disciplined approach to scaling. (Read more here.)

Next in the series is Greenlane, a concept we recognized as the “Disruptor FutureMaker.”

***

The better-for-you segment is at an inflection point. Consumer demand for healthier, faster, and more affordable options continues to rise, but the category is grappling with rising costs, labor shortages, and inflationary pressure on premium ingredients. Legacy premium salad chains are feeling the strain of rapid expansion, and many are retrenching to stabilize operations.

That shift is opening the door for challenger brands to reimagine the model entirely—using tech-enabled, small-footprint, drive-thru–only formats to deliver craveable, chef-driven meals at speed. At the forefront of this disruption is Greenlane, a concept built from scratch to solve the biggest challenge in better-for-you dining: how to make healthy food truly accessible without sacrificing convenience or quality.

Founder Erica Spector Wishnow has spent decades as a franchisee operating legacy infrastructure for major quick-service players. While designing the concept of Greenlane from scratch, there were a few systems and processes from traditional models she intentionally left behind: large square footage resulting in unnecessary foot traffic for employees, and complex menus with long cook times.

The first Greenlane restaurant broke ground in Tampa in 2023. Although it’s a drive-thru concept, Spector Wishnow says customers don’t just pull around the building; they go through it, passing a bright green lenticular exterior, LED screens and menu boards, and pink bougainvillea flowers that cover the arc awning as they exit the restaurant. The building is multidimensional, layered with bold shades of green. Then there’s Gigi, the pink bunny out front—immersing customers in Greenlane’s cutting-edge yet approachable brand identity.

The interior layout of the sub-2,000-square-foot restaurant is meticulously planned to reduce friction. In the two minutes from the time an order is received, employees work assembly-line style, sometimes cross-trained in stations to maximize efficiency. Because there’s no dining room, employees have the freedom to hype themselves up through music that echoes through the space. The open layout, with assembly stations in the middle, encourages camaraderie and closeness, with no single step going to waste from prep to execution.

Greenlane’s approach to technology centers around culture, not cost-cutting.
Just as the physical space was reimagined to remove complexity, so was the menu. Spector Wishnow calls Greenlane’s offerings “familiar but intentional,” with fresh-made salads and wraps. In this segment, getting this right is crucial. There is a mindset that these items can’t be eaten in the car the same way a burger or nuggets can, but she aims to challenge that through menu innovation and smart design.

“We approach our menu to have structural integrity in the salads and wraps so that the foundation will hold. We know these ingredients can be delicate,” Spector Wishnow says. “Dressings are served on the side, so the greens stay crisp. Ingredients are layered throughout to prevent crushing or uneven distribution while traveling. Focusing on ingredient resilience helps both the texture and appeal of a meal. Even if it’s sitting in the car, it’s still craveable and on the go.”

Inventory is managed precisely to combat record highs on key ingredients, like romaine, and through years of proactive cost management and waste reduction by prepping every day. By sticking to core ingredients that can be matched across the menu, Greenlane can get competitive with its sourcing and pricing, finding premium components at the best value to trickle down to customers. It’s a process—and promise—years in the making.

“Making ourselves affordable and approachable for our guests takes a lot of work and discipline, but it’s critical,” Spector Wishnow says. “We make smart sourcing decisions, from packaging to ingredients and building materials. Every choice impacts the cost of our meals, but keeping a small footprint with lean labor, low overhead, and minimal waste creates direct savings that we’re able to pass on to our guests.”

Greenlane’s approach to technology centers around culture, not cost-cutting. Investing in kitchen automation that preserves ingredient integrity, ordering platforms that personalize the guest experience, and an app that allows customers to make more educated decisions about what they put in their bodies—this tech stack works quietly in the background to make everyone’s job easier. Because, according to Spector Wishnow, technology doesn’t enable culture—people do.

“Our brand is our people. We have a vibrant and inclusive culture that empowers our crew to be themselves and show up feeling valued,” Spector Wishnow says.
In a market where real estate is stretched thin and the right location is crucial, Greenlane also deploys technology to intentionally select sites and markets.

“We’re leveraging technology while looking at real estate to assess where to put our future Greenlanes,” Spector Wishnow says. “We’ve found this to be a critical component in the growth of our business. It’s been a game-changer in figuring out where our guests are, where our customers are coming from, where they’re going, and how we can support them in their communities.”

With four locations open in the Tampa Bay area, Greenlane plans to open 25 more restaurants across Florida in the next five years. The small footprint and drive-thru-only design will serve as its competitive advantage and engine of efficiency, driving low overhead and speed of service. Spector Wishnow says this, paired with the brand’s unwavering commitment to build-to-order, fresh ingredients, will keep the brand a differentiator in the segment. Growth is inevitable, but remaining methodical and picking the very best locations is paramount; she won’t compromise on this.

Then there’s the secret ingredient, championed by Gigi but lived out by the Greenlane team: people.

“Our brand is our people. We have a vibrant and inclusive culture that empowers our crew to be themselves and show up feeling valued,” Spector Wishnow says. “Preservation of this energy translates to our customers. Alongside our building and ingredients, people are the third cornerstone of Greenlane.”

As a disruptor in the category, Greenlane is always trying to stay ahead of the curve and evolve. Spector Wishnow sees hyper-personalization and being conscious of the sustainability of where the brand sits in the community as the next major fast-casual upheaval.

“Building a brand as a community is something we’ve been very methodical about, and I think that’s relevant in brands growing forward. We have Gigi, our mascot, who is interwoven with our community. We’re doing partnerships throughout Tampa to build brand awareness and lean into an authenticity that people are really craving now,” Spector Wishnow says. “Authenticity is one of those trends we’re building toward, and we’ll see more of it in the space.”

Source https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/introducing-the-fast-casual-futuremakers-greenlane/

---

 

Foodservice Equipment

 

The Legacy Companies Updates C-Suite
Steve Moore and David Abi were named chief executive officer and chief commercial officer for The Legacy Companies.

Steve Moore David Abi Legacy CompaniesMoore’s career spans more than 30 years and he most recently served as CEO of Nice-Pak Products, a global manufacturer of wet wipes. Prior to that, he led Bankruptcy Management Solutions, a California-based software company.

Abi’s career spans more than 25 years and he most recently served as president of several divisions at Middleby Corp., including Southbend, Crown Steam Group, Carter Hoffman, Doyon, Nuvu, and Sveba Dahlen.

Brand Snapshot: The Legacy Companies
Headquarters: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Company type: Multi-line designer, importer and manufacturer of commercial foodservice equipment
Notable brands include: Adcraft, Black Diamond, Maxx Cold, Maxx Ice, BevLes, Blakeslee, General, and Legion

Source https://fesmag.com/topics/the-latest-news/23533-the-legacy-companies-updates-c-suite

 

Amerikooler Names Sales VP
Stephen Fetterman will help strengthen the walk-in manufacturer’s partnerships with customers and dealers.

Walk-in manufacturer Amerikooler has appointed Stephen Fetterman as its vice president of sales. He will lead the company’s sales organization and support its strategic growth initiatives, including market expansion, channel development and enhanced customer engagement.

Fetterman has experience leading high-performing sales teams and executing growth-focused strategies. He previously held sales leadership positions at GE Appliances, where he was responsible for driving revenue growth, strengthening key customer relationships and developing strategic initiatives across multiple distribution channels.

“Stephen’s proven track record of leading high-performing sales organizations and driving significant growth aligns well with our long-term strategic priorities,” says Gian Carlo Alonso, CEO at Amerikooler, in the release. “His leadership will help accelerate our growth, expand our market presence, and further strengthen our partnerships with customers and dealers.”

Source https://www.fermag.com/articles/amerikooler-names-sales-vp/

 

Frontline Names New Sales Manager
Joshua Smith was introduced as a sales manager for Frontline International.

Frontline International Names Joshua Smith New Sales Manager 4.8.26 PR Image
Joshua Smith
Prior to joining Frontline, Smith served as sales manager for a multi-state foodservice equipment distributor and service provider. Prior to that, Smith worked on the operator side of the foodservice industry, per a company release.

“I have firsthand experience with the pain points inside restaurants and also understand how to use product technology to solve those problems,” Smith says.

In his new role, Smith assumes responsibility for “analyzing market trends, establishing sales goals and strategies, educating new customers and the sales team, and building strong customer relationships,” per a company release.

Source https://fesmag.com/topics/the-latest-news/23532-frontline-names-new-sales-manager

 

Singer Equipment Acquires Alabama’s Bresco
Bresco will join Singer H&R and help Singer Equipment expand its reach across the south.

Singer Equipment has acquired Bresco, based in Birmingham, Ala. Led by George Tobia, president, Bresco has served the greater Alabama market for more than 50 years. It will integrate into Singer H&R, formerly Hotel & Restaurant Supply, which joined Singer Equipment in 2024. Marcus Lyon serves as the president of Singer H&R.

Fred Singer, president and CEO of Singer Equipment, based in Elverson, Pa., says acquiring Bresco allows Singer Equipment to become a more complete solution to its customers and suppliers in the south. It has 14 offices in Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

“I am thrilled to welcome George, his son Matthew, and the entire Bresco team to Singer,” Singer says in the release. “George and his team are recognized leaders in their market with broad respect from vendors and customers, and a reputation for integrity and excellence.”

Tobia says, “As part of Singer, we will be able to continue our growth and bring benefits and opportunities to our customers and employees alike.” Tobia will join Singer Equipment to support the integration of the companies, and to continue to lead and grow sales efforts in the Alabama market.

“The integration of Bresco into Singer H&R will positively impact our growth strategy, and we will be a stronger company and a better solution for our customers,” Lyon says.

Entrepreneur Partners served as the financial advisor to Singer Equipment. Prior to the Bresco acquisition, the dealership picked up Utica, N.Y.’s Joseph Flihan Co. in 2025.

Source https://www.fermag.com/articles/singer-equipment-acquires-alabamas-bresco/

---

 

Tabletop & FOH

 

How Starbucks, Target, Dave & Buster’s invest in employees to boost CX
Financial incentives, better training and unified company culture are among the tools companies are using to enhance the employee experience.

Major companies, from Starbucks to Target, are bolstering their CX by investing in culture, benefits and incentives for their employees.

Satisfied, tenured employees are well-positioned to offer superior customer service, but turnover rates across industries suggest employees are far from satisfied.

The average retail associate turnover rate is 60%, according to Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at Gartner. Workers who have been with a company for a long period of time aren’t automatically superior for CX, but they are more likely to have helpful knowledge.

“Having employees on longer typically means the organization is better run and not having to spend so much time and money on recruiting and training, and that customers are able to come in and get answers to their questions immediately,” Jashinsky said.

Employees overall that say they are satisfied with their experience are 1.6 times more likely to be high performers, according to Gartner data from 2024. However, less than one-third of employees say they feel strong satisfaction with the experience at their organization.

Starbucks, Target and Dave & Busters are looking to workers to boost satisfaction, emphasizing investments in their employee experience in calls to investors in recent months.

While Starbucks is tying financial incentives to metrics including customer satisfaction, Target is adding more support for associates as part of a broader set of in-store CX investments. Dave & Buster’s is investing in training and unifying its culture across brands to improve the dining experience.

Starbucks’ incentives encourage connections
Starbucks is in the middle of a CX-focused turnaround, and its baristas are playing a starring role.

The cafe chain’s effort to simplify processes is not just aimed at cutting down order times, but ensuring workers have time to connect with customers.

“Our partners are the heart of the brand, creating connections across all channels,” Tressie Lieberman, EVP and global chief brand officer, said at an investor day conference in January. “We have a unique opportunity to connect people over coffee during a time when loneliness is pervasive.”

Starbucks made those customer connections even more important earlier this month by introducing quarterly bonuses based on factors including customer satisfaction targets. The new program is meant to align worker incentives with CX goals under the Back to Starbucks plan.

The bonus incentives are on top of what Starbucks sees as pay, benefits and a career path that make it stand out in the business, CEO Brian Niccol said at the investor day conference. “When our partners succeed, customers feel the difference, and our entire business gets stronger.”

Not every worker has been happy with the coffeehouse chain’s previous efforts. Starbucks has often been at odds with Starbucks Workers United, which has unionized workers at hundreds of stores.

The combination of compensation and additional career opportunities within the organization is a great incentive for workers in any businesses, according to Jashinsky. Major examples include companies like Walmart and Costco, where the current CEOs started within the store.

“I think it helps them connect to the associates,” Jashinsky said. “Not only does it help on the executive training side, it helps those leaders speak the same language as their associates.”

Target’s store turnaround includes employees
Target plans to invest $1 billion in CX this year, and its in-store experience — including more support for associates — is a top priority.

“We need our experience to delight guests every time, and to be crystal clear, there’s real work for us to do here,” CEO Michael Fiddelke said on an earnings call last month. “That’s why we’re strengthening reliability and service end-to-end as well as making meaningful investments in payroll and training that our teams need to consistently deliver for our guests.”

Target is exploring a new approach to customer service as well that aims to build on the retailer’s other CX investments, according to EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester.

“We’re piloting an enhanced service model in select stores right now with team members delivering an intuitive and genuine experience, helping guests discover newness, sharing the latest trends and answering questions about products,” Sylvester said during the earnings call.

Like Starbucks, Target wants to simplify associates’ workload so they can spend more time helping shoppers. The retailer is investing additional store hours to ensure workers have the support they need to focus on assisting customers, according to Fiddelke.

Target is investing in financial investments aimed at its associates in terms of salary and other benefits as well. The Dream to Be program, which offers associates tuition-free education assistance, has helped more than 12,000 workers earn degrees and professional certificates.

“We’ll continue to invest in the team,” Fiddelke said. “I think our long history of team investment has served us so well because it’s the team that brings to life our strategy every day.”

Target is just one example of a retailer investing in CX through financial support of its employees. In 2024, both Costco and Sam’s Club credited higher wages for better shopping experiences in their warehouses.

Dave & Buster CEO: CX can’t exceed EX
Dave & Buster’s is making improved training and a unified employee culture the next step in its quest to improve customer satisfaction.

The company is prioritizing its operations and company culture with the goal of driving better CX and, in turn, improving traffic and sales, according to CEO Tarun Lal.

“From launching industry-leading general manager incentives to investing in training programs and simplifying tasks for our team members, we are sending a message to the field that our success is closely tied to our execution and to our guest experience,” Lal said on an earnings call last month.

Dave & Buster’s turned to its restaurant teams to help craft the rest of its experience strategy as well, according to Lal. The entertainment company plans on investing more in games and immersive experiences, which was a result of asking workers about what diners are saying.

The company also plans on improving the employee experience by defining a shared mission across Dave & Buster’s and its family-focused Main Event chain.

“We want our teams to know that we are walking the talk on the fundamental truth that our guest experience can never exceed our team member experience,” Lal said.

Source https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/starbucks-target-dave-busters-employees-cx/817140/

 

Enhancing Restaurant Profitability Immediately with Real-Time Insight
The hospitality industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Having survived the upheaval of COVID through innovative thinking and a rapid adoption of new tech, including apps and QR codes, the latest hikes in wage costs and business rates are pushing many to the edge. Cutting hours, shrinking menus, even reducing locations is one response but where does that leave a company’s long term growth plans?

This is an industry that has one big advantage: the power to achieve very rapid change. Effectively and quickly manipulating powerful levers, from inventory to staff, can have an immediate impact on profitability. Restaurant GMs can boost the day’s sales with savvy menu and staffing decisions. Menu design can be optimised in real time based on ingredient costs to safeguard margins. But these swift, intelligent actions cannot be achieved with historic information hoarded at head office. To maximise opportunities and improve profit, decision makers need to be empowered with immediate access to real-time insight that supports their operational needs.

Escalating Operational Pressures
In a low margin industry, unexpected events can eradicate profit overnight. For the hospitality sector, which is juggling food inflation, recruitment challenges and changing customer expectations, recent legislative changes have caused significant problems. Cost increases associated with increased employer National Insurance (NI) contributions, increased minimum wage – especially for under 21s – and the proposed changes to business rates have caused understandable outcry. Many have opted to reduce staff, cut trading hours and close sites, undermining both profitability and growth plans.

And yet, some chains are bucking the trend. Individual restaurants are thriving. While there is no magic formula for success, hospitality has one simple advantage over other business sectors: the ability to effect immediate change. Restaurants don’t have to wait weeks or months to see the impact of decisions: profitability can be impacted today. And that is an enormously powerful tool.

Sales on a cold day can be boosted by offering a spiced hot apple juice or a warming soup. Savvy inventory buying decisions can be leveraged in a promotional special offer. Effective staff management can minimise costs without affecting the customer experience. The value is both tangible and immediate. This can only be achieved, of course, if the people taking the decisions on the ground, the restaurant GMs, Assistant Managers, even Head Chefs, have real-time access to relevant, easily accessible information – and that is where far too many hospitality companies are failing.

Leverage the Tech Stack
Operating a profitable restaurant business is tough in any climate. Post COVID, many hospitality companies have diversified by running take-away models alongside traditional eat-in options. They are leveraging diverse technologies, from apps to QR codes, to streamline booking and ordering and invested in a raft of systems to manage staff and inventory. But these tools do not provide the real-time insight required to empower decisionmakers, especially GMs, day by day.

Instead, information is collated and assessed, often on a spreadsheet, before finally being shared with the wider business. GMs get an updated report at least a week later – long after the time when any decision could have affected sales or profitability. Far too late to reduce food wastage or intelligently optimize staff levels.

Even worse, telling a GM that the restaurant had a great day last Tuesday and ‘do more of that’ is hardly going to boost morale. How many shifts have been worked since then? How many routine disasters averted? Good GMs are leveraging great people skills to manage both customers and staff; finessing supplier relationships when deliveries are late, short or damaged. They are fixing equipment and managing hygiene crises. They have no time for complex, detailed and outdated reports.

To drive real change, GMs need quick, relevant insight that supports their complex, challenging role; a simple, highly visual tool that provides no more than three or four actionable, empowering pieces of insight every day. Consolidating the diverse and deep data sets created by the existing technology stack into a real-time insight resource can transform the speed of decision making. In addition, AI tools can also make it easy for GMs to chat with the data and quickly understand how decisions affect the handful of Key Performance Indicators. Providing GMs with easy to consume, real-time data enables restaurant chains to embed profit-led decision making within day-to-day activity.

Optimizing for Profitability
There are, of course, so many elements to running a successful restaurant. A restaurateur must have the magic combination of concept, ambience and location. A GM needs the diverse skill set and speed of response to manage a complex, high pressure environment. But intelligently manipulating diverse levers can also optimize profitability in real-time across the entire business.

A menu engineering matrix that identifies the top (stars) and bottom (dogs) menu performers allows a company to assess options to improve the profitability of each item by changing the ingredients or updating the description. Adding real-time insight into the mix means every change in ingredient price can be factored into this matrix, enabling the company to make the changes required to maintain a profit goal for each item, such as tweaking the recipe or opting for an alternate ingredient source.

In addition to real-time tracking of menu item costs, detailed understanding of inventory provides vital insight into trends, from price volatility to wastage. Identifying wastage sources, incidents and patterns, enables companies to minimise over ordering and cut costs. Tracking staffing patterns and costs, especially in the light of the hike in minimum wage for under 21s, is also key to understanding not only wage costs but also determining future strategy, from recruitment to training.

No one could underestimate the challenges facing the hospitality industry now. Customer spending is down, costs are up and the outlook is tough. But there are very real opportunities to improve performance and keep growth plans on track – and many of the foundations are already in place.

Hospitality companies have invested in a compelling tech stack over the past five years and they are excited about the possibilities of AI. The only way to maximise this potential and, critically, address the crippling cost pressures now imposed through staff costs and business rates is to leverage this tech stack. This means consolidating data and using it to empower individuals across the business in real time – especially at the sharp end where the impact can be immediately enjoyed.

Christian Mouysset

Source https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/enhancing-restaurant-profitability-immediately-with-real-time-insight/

 

Is Efficiency Replacing Empathy?
The restaurant industry is at a crossroads. While AI and automation are key factors pushing order accuracy to new heights, the hospitality factor is declining, creating a transactional gap, according to Intouch Insight’s 2026 On-Premises Study.

“As automation and the use of AI increases, the human interactions are becoming a premium competitive advantage,” said Sarah Beckett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Intouch Insight. “The brands that win will use AI to enable human connection, not replace it.

While the industry has shaved 60 seconds off service times compared to last year, operational efficiency isn’t enough, she added.

“Authentic human connection acts as a powerful buffer for operational friction.”

“Authentic human connection acts as a powerful buffer for operational friction. Operators need to use technology as a silent engine to handle the more process-driven aspects of transactions so their staff can focus on being hospitality specialists.”

The most striking data result was the widening transactional gap, Beckett noted. While they saw a massive industry win in speed, and order accuracy to 92.7 percent, hospitality markers like the use of “please” and smiling continued to decline.

“It was also glaring that suggestive selling remains the single largest missed revenue opportunity at a 60.6 percent study-wide rate,” said Beckett, adding that when brands are performing low in this category, they’re trading away significant profit for a few extra seconds of speed.

“This is a low-cost revenue lever that requires minimal training and can really make a difference in a brand’s bottom line.”

Guests can forgive a slight delay or small error, but they won’t forget feeling ignored.

The report showed a “friendly’ visit” yields a 98.9 percent satisfaction rate, whereas missing a basic greeting, which currently happens to 27.9 percent of guests, makes the experience feel mechanical. She noted that operational failures, like cold food or incorrect orders, remain direct pathways to “Not Satisfied” outcomes, as these errors carry a disproportionate impact on overall ratings.

“Greetings and parting remarks are powerful, low-cost levers for emotional impact. Yet, one in four guests are missing these essential interactions, she said. “In the end, guests can forgive a slight delay or small error, but they won’t forget feeling ignored.”

Among the other findings from the study based on real-time, unannounced mystery shopping visits at 753 locations across 10 leading brands:

The Manners Decline: Use of the word “please” fell to 29.9 percent, and nearly 22 percent of guests leave without a basic “thank you.”

The Cost of Not Friendly: When service moved from “Friendly” to “Not Friendly,” guest satisfaction plummeted from 98.9 percent to 31.2 percent.

The Smile Shortage: A smile was observed in only 64.3 percent of visits.

“While staff may be physically present and technically accurate, the absence of a smile or a genuine greeting creates a purely transactional experience,” said Beckett.“This is a threat because as AI handles more functional tasks and more of the ordering experience, guests have higher emotional expectations for their remaining human interactions and the window to deliver those gets shorter and shorter. So it’s critical to maximize the impact of those interactions, as that’s what we see as being the most “memorable” part of the experience time and time again in our studies.”

To encourage staff to be more welcoming and friendly in an authentic manner Beckett suggests operators:

Use the benchmark data to show their teams that a friendly interaction results in nearly 68 percent higher satisfaction than a not friendly one. A switch from ‘not friendly’ to ‘friendly’ can make a measurable difference in a customer’s experience.
Turn mystery shop “misses” into coaching actions that emphasize eye contact and a genuine “thank you” over rigid scripts.
Celebrate staff who bridge the gap between compliance and service.
Operators need to use technology as a silent engine to handle the more process-driven aspects of transactions so their staff can focus on being hospitality specialists.

Brands should focus on leveraging technology in ways that free up employees to focus on guest engagement such as using AI for order-taking or inventory management allowing staff to step out from behind the counter to engage with guests in the dining room or at the counter, Beckett said.

“Speed isn’t just a metric; it drives satisfaction. If a guest perceives service as ‘Slower Than Expected,’ satisfaction drops from 96.7 percent to 76.9 percent.

You can never know for certain, but if brands continue to prioritize high-speed, high-volume transactions without reinvesting that “saved time” into staff training, the transactional gap will likely widen, she cautioned.

“We are at a threshold where efficiency is expected, and failing to pivot toward hospitality will only lead towards diminished opportunities for that critical guest engagement.”

Source https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/is-efficiency-replacing-empathy/

 

Building Systems That Retain Good People
While there’s no one-size-fits-all hiring strategy, one thing remains true whether you’re at the local bar and grill or at an upscale Michelin star restaurant: hiring is always a bit of a leap of faith, said Derek Clayton, corporate chef at Vitamix.

“Work history, experience and skill set matter, of course, but I’d argue attitude and fit matter more. Can we work together in close quarters, under high stress, for long hours? Can we communicate well when things get busy? Skills can be sharpened, but the right mindset and willingness to be part of a team are what really make a hire stick.”

One of the key ways to retain staff is to have consistent systems in place for the training and onboarding process that translate into better kitchen flow and guest experience, Clayton pointed out.

“Consistency is everything. Guests come back because they trust what they’re getting. If that smoothie, soup or sauce tastes different every time, you lose that trust pretty quickly.”

If you want strong people, you need to create a place they actually want to work. That means paying fairly, treating people with respect, allowing for some balance, and offering a clear path to grow, he added.

“Whether that’s learning under a skilled chef or having a clear path to advance within the company structure, it matters. When a restaurant builds a reputation for valuing and rewarding its team in a meaningful way, it becomes much easier to attract and retain good people.”

Clayton stresses the importance of a practical evaluation, employing a “working interview,” where applicants would come in for a few paid hours.

“It gave both sides a chance to see if the fit was there. Of course you’re evaluating skill, but you’re also asking a more important question: can we work side by side during a busy service and communicate well under pressure? That foundation goes a long way in building a stable team. We don’t have to play cards on Sunday night, but I want to know we can get through service together.”

With teams that are changing all the time, operators need to rely on simple systems such as clear recipes, smart prep, and equipment that does what it’s supposed to do without a ton of guesswork, Clayton advised.

“You shouldn’t have to work somewhere for four years to become the blender whisperer. It should be intuitive. Push a button, follow the recipe, get the same result. That takes pressure off the team and keeps things moving.”

For simplifying prep, Clayton points to starting with the menu as the more moving parts you add, the more risk you create during a rush. To do so, he suggests:

Tighten the menu up, especially for high-volume periods

Build strong base components you can use across multiple dishes

Batch smart so you’re not scrambling mid-service

Use tools you trust so you’re not babysitting a process

“Keep it simple and steady, and the whole kitchen moves better. But when labor gets squeezed or systems fall apart, you have to simplify an focus on the items your team can execute well every time. Reset expectations in a quick, clear huddle. Who’s on what station? What are today’s priorities? Put your strongest people in the most visible spots and control the pace as much as you can.”

Finding and training someone new is almost always more expensive and disruptive than keeping the strong people you already have.

“Our people are our strongest asset, and we as leaders need to prove that we value them, when and where we can. Having a strong team you can rely on is one of the most important ways to maintain consistency and guest experience through busy times. Guests should never feel the scramble behind the scenes. Calm leadership, clear communication, and a simplified game plan can steady things quickly while you rebuild for the long term.”

Source https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/building-systems-that-retain-good-people/

---

 

Food & Beverage

 

McDonald’s to Launch Crafted Beverage Lineup Nationwide Next Month
The launch has been years in the making.

McDonald’s full dive into crafted drinks will start next month, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The upcoming menu will feature items like a Dirty Dr Pepper and Mango Pineapple Refresher, and will be priced lower than beverage chains such as Starbucks and Dutch Bros. Additionally, a lineup of energy drinks, including the Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer, will enter stores in August.

The Journal reported that franchisees have invested thousands of dollars in new equipment to support the beverage rollout. Corporate leaders and restaurant operators, who worked together to develop the drink-making process, expect strong profit margins.

McDonald’s has circled beverages as a top priority for years. It believes beverages represent a more than $100 billion opportunity globally.

Toward the end of 2023, the fast-food giant launched CosMc’s, a drink-forward prototype offering blended drinks, refreshers, and specialty lemonades, teas, and cold coffee, alongside a snack platform.

The new concept was created to test customers’ response to crafted beverages and determine how the platform could fit into McDonald’s day-to-day operations. The brand learned a lot; for instance, customers didn’t want as much customization as previously thought and they often chose to add food with their beverage order.

In June 2025, McDonald’s began closing CosMc’s stores as it prepared to move the beverage pilot into actual McDonald’s restaurants. Soon after, the brand revealed that it would test a lineup of creative drinks at more than 500 locations across Wisconsin, Colorado, and surrounding markets. The list featured Toasted Vanilla Frappé, Strawberry Watermelon Refresher, Sprite Lunar Splash, Popping Tropic Refresher, and Creamy Vanilla Cold Brew.

During the test, drinks drove incremental visits and higher check averages across multiple dayparts, and the Red Bull lineup drove strong results. McDonald’s revealed in February that a systemwide launch would be coming later in 2026.

The push for beverages has been organized under a dedicated category team, in addition to focuses on beef and chicken. McDonald’s created these groups to move faster on ideas and execution and better compete with brand specialists like Swig, Dutch Bros, Starbucks, and 7 Brew.

McDonald’s is racing to gain market share in the growing beverage space, alongside QSR peers like Taco Bell, who launched spinoff Live Más Cafe in Texas and Southern California, and KFC, who rolled out Kwench in the U.K. and Ireland. Chick-fil-A spun a beverage-focused “Daybright” model into the market as well.

Swig, founded in 2010, is the originator of the dirty soda concept. The brand has hundreds of shops in development across the country.

Source https://www.qsrmagazine.com/story/mcdonalds-to-launch-crafted-beverage-lineup-nationwide-next-month/

 

Already Under Financial Pressure, Midwest Soybean Farmers Are Squeezed Further by Tariffs, Iran War
Other issues include low prices and perceived “price gouging” by suppliers.

WAHOO, Neb. (AP) — Strong winds whipped around Doug Bartek, a fifth-generation farmer, as he headed into a grain bin to shovel soybeans onto a conveyor chute. The 60-year-old was anxious at the onset of the spring planting season, rattling off the long list of issues affecting his family’s livelihood at their 2,000-acre farm near Wahoo, Nebraska.

The high cost of fuel, equipment, and fertilizer — compounded by the Iran war — and also tariffs, perceived “price gouging” by suppliers, and low soybean prices driven by a global supply glut. All of it weighs on Bartek, who is chairman of the Nebraska Soybean Association.

“Our biggest struggles are our inputs, be it fertilizer, seed, chemical, parts,” Bartek said. “There has been so much drastic markup in all of these. And I just kind of feel like the farmer’s kind of painted in the corner.”

Bartek’s concerns are shared by many Midwest soybean producers. Costs, such as equipment, have crept up over time while soybean prices have stayed low. Tariffs levied by the Trump administration last year and the resulting monthslong trade war with China only made things worse, they say. Then the Iran war bottled up shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, restricting global fertilizer supplies and sending fertilizer prices sky high. A ceasefire deal announced April 7 raised hope that bottlenecks in the strait would abate, but the future of the agreement was uncertain.

“A lot of producers are pretty nervous going into this year,” said Justin Sherlock, a soybean farmer and president of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association. “It looks like we’re going to have another year of negative returns.”

Years of rising costs, low soybean prices
Soybeans, which are used for livestock feed, food and biofuels, are among the top U.S. agricultural exports. That hasn’t always been the case. Before the 1960s soybeans weren’t a major crop in the U.S, according to Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University. It wasn’t until the 1990s that soybean production accelerated due to international demand — primarily from China — and soybeans and corn are now dominant in U.S. agriculture.

But U.S. soybean farmers, who typically also grow corn, have been facing financial issues for years even before the onset of the Iran war. Soybean prices have been persistently low in recent years. The global market has been awash in soybeans, driven in part by Brazil, which surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest soybean producer years ago.

“If we look at global soybean production over the past several years, it continues to set record, after record, after record,” Hart said. “There’s been just large supplies globally, and that has led to depressed prices.”

Meanwhile, Midwest soybean farmers’ costs have risen. Overall farm production expenses, including seed and pesticide, have increased over time, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Operating costs for soybean production have stayed elevated since 2020 and are projected to increase again in 2026, according to the agency.

The cost of land also is a major issue for farmers, experts say. Midwest crop land values have increased. And most regional farmers rent some of their land, according to Joana Colussi, research assistant professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

Bartek, who rents three-quarters of his land, said landowners are increasing rents, causing further financial strain.

“There’s a lot of what I call absentee landowners that have absolutely no idea what goes on on the farm,” he said. “All they know is their taxes went up and you get to make up the difference, some way, somehow.”

“They’re very concerned about negative margins driven by low prices and high cost,” said Paul Mitchell, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, of farmers. “There’s just a liquidity cash crunch for a lot of them and they’re just trying to figure out how to deal with everything.”

The number of farms in the U.S. has shrunk over time and consolidation in farming is a long-term trend, though farmers’ financial pressures wrought by high input costs and low commodity prices have contributed, Hart said. Larger farms tend to be more competitive and depend on large, expensive machinery.

“The financial reserves need(ed) on a farm are much greater than they used to be,” Hart said. “We’re a bit more sensitive to the financial conditions these days because so much capital is being utilized within the farm business.”

Tariffs, trade war have lasting impacts
Market forces aren’t the only issue weighing on farmers. Sweeping tariffs levied by President Donald Trump in April 2025 exacerbated a trade war with China, the top buyer of U.S. soybeans. China responded with retaliatory tariffs and effectively boycotted U.S. soybeans, cutting off a major export market for Midwest farmers and driving the price of soybeans even lower.

“When that was announced and soybean prices basically collapsed, if you could afford to hold on to your beans and wait for better times, you were OK,” said Mike Cerny, a soybean, and winter wheat corn farmer in Sharon, Wisconsin. “If you had a mortgage due or payments due or cash flow needs and you had to sell at that point, you were taking it pretty rough.”

The U.S. and China eventually reached a deal in late 2025. Beijing committed to buying 12 million metric tons of soybeans by January and at least 25 million metric tons annually for the next three years. China has since met its initial soybean purchase goal and the Trump administration also rolled out a $12 billion temporary aid package in December to boost farmers affected by the trade war.

But the damage is already done, experts and farmers say. While China’s renewed purchases and the federal payments are helping, it’s not enough to recover farmers’ losses. Even after federal assistance, farmers still lost almost $75 per harvested acre of soybeans in the 2025 crop, according to the American Soybean Association. And the trade war further pushed China toward competing soybean exporters, such as Brazil — accelerating a trend of declining U.S. soybean exports to China.

“When China decided to stop purchasing, we couldn’t find enough other markets to replace those sales,” Hart said. “We’re still feeling the impacts today. When you look at where soybean exports are today versus where we would normally expect them to be, we’re still running anywhere from 15% to 20% behind normal.”

Joseph Glauber, former chief economist at the Department of Agriculture between 2008 and 2014, said global competitors to U.S. soybean farmers gained from the trade war.

“When China has put on tariffs against the U.S. they’ve tended to buy then from Brazil or Argentina, largely Brazil,” Glauber added. “We’re not nearly as dominant in the world as we used to be in terms of the global export market for soybeans.”

Iran war drove up fuel, fertilizer costs
After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, a severe slowdown in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sent the price of oil soaring. The shipping disruption also largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access to key fertilizer ingredients. The price of urea, the most widely traded nitrogen fertilizer, skyrocketed.

Soybeans don’t require nitrogen fertilizer, but it’s vital for corn and most soybean farmers also grow corn. About half the global supply of urea comes from the Middle East, and Qatar and Saudi Arabia are two of the top sources of U.S. fertilizer imports, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire last week that included reopening the strait of Hormuz, but traffic remained slowed amid disagreements over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and the price of urea remains elevated.

Many Midwest farmers bought their fertilizer well in advance of the spring planting season. But some farmers who didn’t buy early face elevated prices. Dave Walton, a corn, soybean, and hay farmer in Iowa and vice president of the American Soybean Association, said in March that some of his neighbors didn’t have cash on hand last fall to buy fertilizer and were struggling to budget for fertilizer due to high prices.

The war also caused gasoline and diesel prices to surge, causing further headaches for farmers. Oil prices dropped following the ceasefire announcement, but the war and the closure of the strait will have lasting impacts on farmers, said Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, an investment research company. Facilities in the Middle East that are critical for exporting chemicals, oil and other commodities were damaged or destroyed during the war and it will take time for supply chains to recover, he said.

“Facilities have been hit, like liquid natural gas plants,” Goldstein added. “You are also looking at a big supply crunch in commodity chemicals, which are the inputs for crop chemicals.”

“We burn a lot of diesel fuel,” said Chris Gould, a corn and soybean farmer in Maple Park, Illinois. “It’s hard to say if I’m gonna come out ahead or behind on this whole deal. But I suspect I’m going to come out behind.”

Concerns about the future
Farmers’ financial problems are showing up in some measures. Farm bankruptcies, while still relatively low, continued to climb in 2025, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In a survey of 400 farmers conducted by researchers at the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture in late March, almost half said their farm operation is financially worse off than it was a year ago.

Goldstein, the Morningstar analyst, said farmers’ high costs and low revenues contributed to the spike in bankruptcies between 2024 and 2025. If costs rise faster than crop prices going forward, he added, that “would strain farmers again and likely lead to more bankruptcies.”

After 43 years of farming, Bartek said the smell of fresh dirt still gets him excited for spring planting. But he’s also heard of farmer suicides, bankruptcies and “retirement sales” where farmers are forced to auction off their operations due to financial problems. Bartek compares farmers to gamblers who put “millions of dollars in the dirt” hoping for returns.

At times, Bartek doubts his own decision to go into farming. He’s also worried about his son, who purchased a farm a few years ago.

Bartek wonders: “Did I do the right thing helping him get into farming?”

Source https://www.foodmanufacturing.com/supply-chain/news/22964605/already-under-financial-pressure-midwest-soybean-farmers-are-squeezed-further-by-tariffs-iran-war

 

It’s OK to Love All the Bees — the Honey Bees, Too
North America’s bee populations are in trouble, but don’t blame honey bees.

North America’s bee populations are in trouble, but don’t blame the honey bees. While some people argue that an overabundance of managed honey bees – those raised to help pollinate crops and produce honey – is causing native bees to disappear, the evidence doesn’t support the claim.

What is true is that populations of many species of bees, including honey bees, are struggling.

Half of all honey bee colonies die every winter in the United States, on average. Commercial beekeepers experienced their highest losses on record – more than 60% of their colonies – in the winter of 2024-25. Overall, one-fifth of pollinators in North America are considered to be at risk for extinction due in large part to habitat loss, rising temperatures, extreme weather, diseases and pesticides.

We study bees and other vital pollinators, and we can tell you that there are good reasons to love all the bees. In fact, they’re essential.

Why care about pollinators?
Bees help farmers grow the foods people love to eat, everything from apples to almonds.

Along with other pollinators – such as flies, butterflies and moths – bees help nearly 80% of flowering plants produce fruit and seeds, which in turn support birds and other wildlife.

About 75% of the world’s agricultural crops, including vegetables, fruits and tree nuts, benefit from pollinators. Additionally, pollinators contribute to production of feed for livestock and fiber crops, such as cotton.

In the United States, pollination by insects contributes $34 billion to the economy.

Among the pollinators, honey bees are the most important for agriculture crops. Managed honey bees, which beekeepers can move from field to field, are particularly essential in intensively farmed areas that lack the natural habitat to support wild bees.

So, why are people concerned about honey bees?
Honey bees were introduced to North America by European settlers in the early 1600s.

Since honey bees are not a native species, the most common concern you might hear is that they will outcompete wild bees for pollen and nectar. This is typically portrayed as a numbers game: If resources are limited, the more bees present on the landscape, the less food there is to go around.

Honey bees live in large social colonies and are adept at capitalizing on high-quality patches of flowers, leading to the concern that this species in particular may have a rapid, outsized effect on native bees that share the same food.

Managed bees can also carry viruses and other pathogens that may infect native bee species. Because viruses are shared among colony members, viruses can persist in managed honey bee colonies and then be spread to other bees that forage on the same flowers.

Scientists and farmers also have a concern about economic sustainability if farms are too reliant on honey bees alone for crop pollination. Threats to honey bee health and high colony mortality in the United States could put crops at risk if other pollinators aren’t in the vicinity to do the job.

Why don’t studies find a honey bee impact on native bees?
Humans actually know little about bee interactions. The U.S. has more than 4,000 native bee species, but there is enough data to estimate population sizes and ranges for less than half of them. Meaningful data examining the effects of honey bees on other species are even more scarce.

In a recent analysis, we found that only 15% of 116 published studies on resource competition involving honey bees measure how competition from honey bees affects the survival, reproductive output and long-term population trends of native species.

The majority of published studies on honey bee and wild bee competition address different versions of a narrow question: Do honey bees and native bees visit the same plants?

Because honey bees are “super generalists” that thrive worldwide well beyond their native range, most scientists would predict that the answer to this question is a resounding “yes.”

However, about half of the research suggests that honey bees don’t change the way native bees go about their day at all. From the perspective of a wild bee, the honey bees simply don’t exist in their world.

Different bee species can coexist with very little evidence of direct interaction. An analysis of bee communities measured across diverse agricultural, urban, grassland and forested environments found the abundance of honey bees and the abundance of native bees were positively associated about five times as often as they were negatively associated. In other words, rather than landscapes supporting one bee species at the expense of another, the same habitats support both.

Calls to restrict honey bees from certain locations also often miss a key reality: Native bee hot spots and urban and commercial beekeeping rarely overlap.

Beekeeping is anchored in agricultural lands. North America’s rarest bees thrive in environments like the Sonoran Desert – habitats that are poorly suited for managed colonies.

If competition occurs, it is typically the product of agriculture practices that strip the land of flowering plants that bees need.

Research that has artificially introduced hives into natural areas like the high Sierra – places beekeepers don’t typically go – has generated competition that left less pollen and nectar for the native bees. But frequently competition involves common native bees that are not under threat.

So, if honey bees aren’t to blame, what is?
The top drivers of pollinator declines are considered to be land use – the spread of cities and agriculture, as well as the way land is managed – along with rising temperatures, extreme weather and pesticide use.

Agriculture and urbanization reduce the amount and diversity of flowering plants, and droughts can reduce plant flowering and the resources bees rely on. Pesticides can reduce bees’ ability to lay eggs and care for their offspring, or they can kill bees outright.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab tracks bee populations in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. Studies using its data have found that urbanization and weather changes have been the major drivers of changes in wild bee abundance and diversity in that region.

As temperatures rise, wild bee populations are expected to decline there. Warmer winters mean bees active in spring emerge earlier from their nests, and increased spring rain and temperature fluctuations can limit their ability to feed their offspring, meaning fewer bees.

The western bumble bee, Bombus occidentalis, was once widespread and abundant across western North America, but it has been in decline since the late 1990s. Long-term monitoring of its populations from 1998 to 2020 shows the primary reasons are land management changes, increasing temperature, drought and pesticide use.

What can you do to support pollinators?
The biggest threat to pollinators is the disappearing variety of flowering plants.

You can help reverse this by filling your garden with more flowering plants, trees and shrubs to give bees, butterflies and other pollinators a variety of food sources.

You can also advocate for bee-friendly behavior in your community, such as creating pollinator habitats in public and private spaces and reducing the use of harsh pesticides and herbicides. Planting more flowers in parks and along roadsides, and protecting wildlands where the rarest native bees live, can help keep these wonderful species thriving.

By Christina Grozinger, Penn State; Andony Melathopoulos, Oregon State University; Clare Rittschof, University of Kentucky; Harland Patch, Penn State, and Jay Evans, Agricultural Research Service, USDA. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Source https://www.foodmanufacturing.com/supply-chain/news/22964602/its-ok-to-love-all-the-bees-the-honey-bees-too

---

HVAC & Plumbing

 

The Joseph Groh Foundation 2026 Grant Recipient: Alicia Reagan
The Joseph Groh Foundation highlights its continued support of grant recipient Alicia Reagan, whose resilience and determination have led to a new chapter made possible through family support and partnership.

After a sudden illness in 2009 left her paralyzed, Reagan remained focused on building a meaningful career in marketing and design while supporting her family and continuing her involvement in the HVAC industry alongside her brother.

Reagan first connected with The Joseph Groh Foundation in 2021 after discovering the organization through the United Spinal Association website. Initially, she sought assistance with installing a concrete pad at her apartment to provide safer access when transferring between her vehicle and powerchair. Through the generosity of the Foundation’s donors, that need was met.

As Reagan began planning and building a home of her own, she again turned to the Foundation for support. Leveraging her connections in the construction industry, she requested assistance to offset the cost of an HVAC system and installation. Founder Joe Groh collaborated with the Trane Company and with her brother’s company, Neal’s Heating and Air Conditioning, to help bring the project to life. Trane donated the HVAC system, and Reagan’s brother installed the system at cost, all thanks to the Foundation’s network of generous donors. Together, these efforts made it possible for Reagan to complete her new home.

The Joseph Groh Foundation grants focus on restoring independence and improving the quality of life for tradespeople living with disabilities through home modifications, accessible vehicles, rehab equipment, and more. To support individuals like Alicia, visit josephgrohfoundation.org to learn how you can make a difference.

About The Joseph Groh Foundation:

Established in 2009, The Joseph Groh Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals within the contracting and construction trades who face permanent, truly life-altering disabilities. To date, the foundation has provided financial assistance totaling $1.5 million to 150 families with connections to the contracting and construction trades in 38 states. Assistance has ranged from wheelchair accessible vans and home/bath remodels to assistive technology, rehab equipment, home repairs, and more. The foundation also offers a pathway for contractors to offer short and long-term disability insurance to contractors through its website. The Foundation’s inception is rooted in a profound event on Father’s Day of 2008. Joe Groh, an HVAC industry veteran, experienced a life-altering accident during a bicycle ride, resulting in high-level quadriplegia. Despite the challenges, Joe’s resilience inspired the creation of this foundation. His story and our mission can be explored further on our website at www.josephgrohfoundation.org.

Source https://hvacinsider.com/the-joseph-groh-foundation-2026-grant-recipient-alicia-reagan/

 

John Engalitcheff Jr., Founder of BAC, Honored by Natural Refrigeration Foundation’s Legacy 100 Club
Baltimore Aircoil Company, Inc. (BAC), a global leader in cooling solutions, announced that its founder, John Engalitcheff Jr., has been inducted into the Natural Refrigeration Foundation’s Legacy 100 Club, recognizing individuals whose innovations have made a lasting impact on the refrigeration and cooling industry.

Established by the Natural Refrigeration Foundation (NRF), the Legacy 100 Club honors pioneers whose contributions helped shape modern refrigeration technology and advance the industry’s role in supporting essential infrastructure worldwide.

Engalitcheff founded Baltimore Aircoil Company in 1938, building the company’s first cooling coil in his garage. Driven by curiosity, engineering ingenuity, and a commitment to solving customer challenges, he pioneered technologies that helped establish evaporative cooling as a highly efficient method of heat rejection for commercial and industrial applications.

During his career, Engalitcheff secured 47 patents, including 23 in evaporative cooling technologies, laying the foundation for decades of innovation. Today, BAC continues that legacy with more than 1,000 patents granted worldwide, delivering advanced cooling technologies that support HVAC, industrial, refrigeration, and data center applications.

“John believed innovation mattered most when it solved real problems for customers,” said Don Fetzer, President of BAC. “His curiosity, courage, and commitment to doing things better shaped the innovative and customer-centric culture that continues to define BAC today. We are honored to see his contributions recognized by the Natural Refrigeration Foundation.”

Engalitcheff’s work helped advance cooling technologies that support many of the systems modern society depends on—from food refrigeration and manufacturing to commercial buildings and digital infrastructure.

About BAC: BAC is proud to be the world’s cooling partner. Since 1938, we have been creating sustainable comfort cooling, process cooling, and refrigeration solutions for the most essential and demanding environments on earth. From pioneering evaporative cooling products to leading the industry toward a better tomorrow, BAC innovates for the future, so we can all advance together. Learn how you can join our vision for a better world at www.BaltimoreAircoil.com.

About NRF: The Natural Refrigeration Foundation (NRF), is the world’s leading resource for evidence-based science to support the most earth-friendly refrigerants, which will drastically reduce greenhouse gases. It’s Cool science. The Foundation is a 501 c (3) non-profit, education, research and training association dedicated to the natural refrigeration industry. Founded in 2006 by the membership of the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR), its partnerships and alliances have grown to include GCCA, RETA, ASHRAE, schools and trade associations.

Source https://hvacinsider.com/john-engalitcheff-jr-founder-of-bac-honored-by-natural-refrigeration-foundations-legacy-100-club/

 

How Data and Incentives Can Protect HVAC Margins Amidst Rising Costs
The HVAC Industry Faces Rising Input Costs
The HVAC sector is currently experiencing a considerable challenge as rising input costs threaten profit margins. In recent years, prices for essential materials like copper, aluminum, and steel have skyrocketed, with reports indicating a 3.8% increase in construction input costs. This data raises alarm bells for contractors and business owners who feel the direct pressure as they manage their projects amid tightening budgets.

Understanding the Financial Squeeze
Given that materials make up a significant portion of HVAC business expenses—approximately 38.8%—it’s crucial to grasp the underlying factors contributing to skyrocketing costs. From the global supply chain disruptions to the shifts in labor forces, HVAC contractors need to navigate a complex economic landscape while trying to maintain quality services. As internal pressures increase, margins decrease, leading to more contractors considering cheaper, potentially lower-quality alternatives that could compromise the integrity of their work.

Proactive Engagement Through Data
Rather than adopting a wait-and-see approach, HVAC contractors can turn to data analytics to predict potential slowdowns—allowing for strategic shifts before the market negatively impacts profits. Companies can track various parameters, including order volumes, time gaps between quotes, and even technician training participation, to identify when contractors might be struggling. For instance, if a noticeable increase occurs in the time between quotes and purchases, this signals an indication of stress in converting individuals into customers due to rising costs.

Transitioning from Traditional Incentives
In this financial climate, the traditional Sales Performance Incentive Fund (SPIFF) may not deliver the desired outcomes. Instead, adopting behavior-based incentives can enhance loyalty among HVAC contractors while improving overall operational efficiency. By rewarding contractors for completing training courses or maintaining essential stock levels, companies can ensure that contractors are not only resilient but also position their businesses for long-term growth despite the backdrop of rising operational costs.

Building Valuable Partnerships
Another strategic tactic is leveraging the distributor-manufacturer partnership. Distributors play a vital role during economic downturns, providing targeted support to HVAC contractors. By ensuring access to high-quality products, even when prices fluctuate, distributors can help contractors maintain their project pipelines and focus on the unique advantages of high-quality equipment, which often translates to lower installation costs and durable performance in the long run.

Future Outlook and Resilience
As the HVAC industry looks to the future, the focus must remain on nurturing relationships built on trust and reliability. Strategies involving data and transparency will help protect relationships with contractors while opening up avenues for conversation and collaboration. Instead of hesitating in the face of rising costs, HVAC business owners should view these changes as opportunities to innovate. With thousands of HVAC professionals reportedly seeking cost-effective yet reliable solutions, it’s imperative to remain knowledgeable about the newest advancements in technology and materials.

Practical Steps to Mitigate Costs
1. Credit Management: Make use of lines of credit strategically to maintain cash flow during lean periods. 2. Material Purchasing: Consider bulk purchasing to hedge against future price increases, especially for materials known to be on the rise. 3. Labor Efficiency: Monitor labor hours closely and focus on training technicians to work more efficiently, ultimately increasing profitability.

Final Thoughts: The Path Forward
The challenges posed by rising input costs are undeniable, but the HVAC industry has the tools and strategies at its disposal to navigate these turbulent times successfully. By leveraging data, embracing innovative incentives, and fostering strong partnerships, HVAC contractors can protect their margins, ensuring their businesses not only survive but thrive.

If you’re ready to take the necessary steps to adapt to this evolving landscape, connect with your local distributors and utilize the resources available to secure your future.

Source https://hvacindustryjournal.com/how-data-and-incentives-can-protect-hvac-margins-amidst-rising-costs

 

Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US Expands SMART MULTI® Lineup with New Single‑Phase, 5‑ton H2i® Outdoor Unit
Innovative solution provides new hyper-heating capacity option while advancing sustainability with low‑global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant

Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US LLC (METUS), a leading supplier of all-electric, all-climate Ductless and Ducted Mini-split and Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) heat pump and air-conditioning systems, today announced the launch of the Mitsubishi Electric Single‑phase SMART MULTI® 5‑ton Hyper-Heating INVERTER® (H2i) Outdoor Unit (MXZ-SM).

With the addition of the new 5‑ton Hyper‑Heating INVERTER® (H2i) unit, METUS now offers a complete SMART MULTI lineup, allowing engineers, contractors, and building owners to specify right‑sized solutions across a broader range of project needs in colder climates. The system’s H2i technology offers reliable, year‑round comfort even in extreme climates. The new unit delivers 100% heating capacity at 5° F and 80% heating capacity at -13° F, with a heating thermal lock‑out at -24° F. Flash injection technology further enhances compressor performance during cold temperatures.

METUS already offers a 5-ton standard model.

Designed with a low-GWP refrigerant, the new SMART MULTI outdoor unit incorporates built‑in safety features, including shut‑off valves, which meet A2L and UL requirements.

The 5-ton H2i outdoor unit supports multi‑zone configurations, connecting to multiple indoor units to deliver personalized comfort across multiple spaces. Indoor unit versatility is a key advantage of the system, with support for a connected capacity range of 50% to 130% and compatibility with M‑ and P‑Series indoor units (up to eight units) and CITY MULTI® indoor units (up to 12 units).

To support customized operation and easier service, the unit includes enhanced dipswitch configuration options. A USB recorder capable of storing up to two weeks of operational data also streamlines troubleshooting.

All outdoor units include factory‑installed Seacoast Protection, featuring a coated base panel and a Blue Fin–coated outdoor heat exchanger. This anti‑corrosion treatment helps protect against salt, sulfur, and other airborne contaminants and is rated for 2,000 hours in accordance with ASTM B117 standards.

All system combinations are ENERGY STAR® Cold Climate and NEEP certified, with select combinations also meeting ENERGY STAR requirements.

“Contractors are looking for HVAC solutions they can trust from design through long‑term operation,” said Brinnon Williams, Vice President of Residential Business, METUS. “The addition of a 5-ton H2i outdoor unit to the SMART MULTI platform reinforces our focus on flexibility, reliability, and real‑world performance.”

For more information about the Single‑phase SMART MULTI 5‑ton H2i Outdoor Unit, visit www.mitsubishicomfort.com or www.mitsubishipro.com.

Source https://hvacinsider.com/mitsubishi-electric-trane-hvac-us-expands-smart-multi-lineup-with-new-single-phase-5-ton-h2i-outdoor-unit/

---

 

Controls Engineering & IoT

 

The hot new restaurant tech trend: AI agents
PAR and Square this week unveiled AI tools that can do things on operators’ behalf, like run marketing campaigns and draft employee schedules. They’re part of a new wave of AI aimed at supercharging productivity.

Here come the AI restaurant agents.

This week, two large restaurant tech suppliers, PAR Technology and Square, unveiled AI products that can assist operators with their business and even complete tasks on their behalf. They joined a number of other companies, like Toast and Thanx, that have launched similar tools over the past year.

They’re part of the growing field of agentic AI, or smart software that can act on its own, sometimes even without being asked. It goes a step further than generative AI, which usually involves chatbots that can answer questions or create images.

At the CES tech conference last year, Jensen Huang, the CEO of AI giant Nvidia, declared that “the age of AI agentics is here.” He argued that AI agents present a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity for businesses due to their ability to supercharge productivity.

Here’s a look at how PAR and Square see their agents playing out in restaurants.

PAR’s ‘AI layer’

The company’s new PAR Intelligence system features several agents that do different things. There is the Insights Agent, which can surface sales and other business data and make recommendations; the Offers Agent, which can create and deploy marketing campaigns; and the Developer Assist Agent, which restaurant IT teams can use to help speed up integrations and development.

Because they are directly tied to PAR’s other products, like POS and marketing, PAR says the agents are able to provide operators with “one source of truth.” And it was built specifically for large restaurant operators, who may oversee dozens or hundreds of locations, all of which have different needs.

For example, Taco Bell franchisee Charter Foods began testing one of PAR’s agents last year and asked it to identify stores that could benefit by staying open later. Late-night sales increased 20% as a result of its recommendations.

The big unlock is that the AI saves time, said Charter Senior Director John Rankin. “In this industry, speed of analyzing data is real money,” he told NRN sibling publication Restaurant Business in September.

Square’s Managerbot

Managerbot builds upon Square’s previous AI assistant, which was more like a chatbot that could answer questions about the business.

While the old assistant was reactive, Managerbot is proactive: It surfaces insights and other metrics that it believes the restaurant needs to know, like that it’s running low on milk, or that several menu items have duplicate names in the POS.

It can also perform tasks, such as drafting employee schedules, creating and running email campaigns, and generating purchase orders for supplies. The operator just needs to ask, though they will have a chance to check the bot’s work before it moves forward.

Donnie McClanahan has been using Managerbot for several weeks at his group of cafes in Knoxville, Tennessee. He now starts his day by asking the bot for an update on his stores. And things that he would previously have had to call and ask a staffer to do manually can now be handled by the bot.

“The espresso machine is down at Tombras Cafe. Can you put all of the craft coffees out of stock and schedule them to be put back available in the morning?” he wrote in a blog post. “[Managerbot] has got my back.”

AI agents will only be as good as the data they are given to work with, which means they’ll need to be fully integrated across a restaurant’s existing tech stack. And they are not totally hands-off. Square noted that Managerbot, like any AI system, can make mistakes, and urged operators to check its responses for accuracy.

There are also questions about whether agents could make some restaurant jobs irrelevant. In an FAQ section on its website, PAR said its agents are not intended to replace people.

“PAR Intelligence is designed to make your best people even better—faster decisions, clearer priorities, less time in dashboards and spreadsheets,” it said.

Source https://www.nrn.com/restaurant-technology/the-hot-new-restaurant-tech-trend-ai-agents

 

Chef Robotics Expands AI-Powered Automation Into Meatpacking
Chef Robotics, a San Francisco-based food robotics company, has expanded its artificial intelligence-driven automation platform to handle tray assembly for meatpacking.

The system can assemble raw, frozen and precooked proteins – including pork loin fillets, chicken breasts, steaks, lamb chops, bratwursts and sausage links – onto trays before packaging.

Tray assembly for proteins has been difficult to automate because pieces of meat are irregular in shape, deformable and highly variable in size.

A frozen chicken breast, for example, behaves differently from a fresh pork loin, making it challenging for automation systems to handle proteins reliably at production speeds.

How it works
Chef built its meatpacking application on its piece-picking technology, using computer vision trained on data covering the visual appearance, physical properties and handling characteristics of different protein types.

The system makes real-time decisions about how to grasp each piece and where to place it on the tray.

The application introduces three capabilities: the vision system detects each piece’s orientation and reorients it mid-motion to place it at the correct angle; the process runs in a single automated pass without manual intervention; and the system calculates placement offsets from the tray’s center to ensure uniform arrangement across every tray.

Broader food assembly applications
The meatpacking capability builds on Chef’s recent expansion into flatbread-based food assembly, where its robots place ingredients onto tortillas, burger buns, sandwich bread and pizza bases for burrito, wrap, burger and sandwich production lines.

The meatpacking application is available in the U.S., Canada and the UK under the company’s robotics-as-a-service pricing model, which allows food manufacturers to deploy the technology without large upfront capital investment.

Source https://theshelbyreport.com/2026/04/10/chef-robotics-expands-ai-powered-automation-into-meatpacking/

 

Shake Shack Unveils Restaurant Technology Initiative Focused on AI, Loyalty and Unified Commerce
As restaurant brands look to scale in an increasingly complex operating environment, technology is becoming less of a support function and more of a strategic foundation. Shake Shack’s newly announced Project Catalyst reflects that shift in a very direct way.

The company is rolling out a broad technology initiative designed to modernize its digital, data, and operational infrastructure as it targets growth to 1,500 company-operated locations. This is not a single product rollout or system upgrade. It is a coordinated effort to connect core restaurant systems, guest engagement platforms, and data capabilities into a unified ecosystem that can support growth at scale.

For a brand that has built its identity around hospitality and experience, the emphasis on technology is notable. It also mirrors a broader trend across the restaurant industry, where operators are investing heavily in platforms that can improve efficiency while maintaining or enhancing the guest experience.

At the center of Project Catalyst is a modernization of in-store technology, including point-of-sale and kitchen display systems. Shake Shack has partnered with Qu, a cloud-native unified commerce platform, to upgrade its POS and kitchen orchestration capabilities. The goal is to improve throughput, accuracy, and consistency across both digital and in-store channels.

This reflects a growing recognition that the traditional separation between front-of-house and back-of-house systems is no longer sustainable. Orders now originate from multiple channels, including mobile apps, kiosks, third-party platforms, and in-person interactions. Coordinating those inputs in real time requires a more integrated approach, particularly for brands operating at high volume.

Shake Shack’s approach also points to the increasing importance of edge computing and in-store infrastructure. Systems like Qu’s Qube are designed to process transactions and manage workflows closer to the point of service, reducing latency and improving performance during peak demand. For operators, this can translate into faster service times and a more consistent guest experience, especially in high-traffic environments.

Beyond operations, Project Catalyst places a strong emphasis on guest engagement. The company is developing its first loyalty platform, which will be integrated across POS and digital channels. The objective is to create a more direct and personalized relationship with guests, moving beyond one-off transactions toward ongoing engagement.

This aligns with a broader shift in the industry toward first-party data strategies. As third-party platforms continue to play a significant role in ordering and discovery, brands are looking for ways to maintain direct connections with their customers. Loyalty programs, when integrated effectively, can provide valuable insights into behavior and preferences while also driving frequency and retention.

Artificial intelligence is another core component of the initiative. Shake Shack is building proprietary AI capabilities aimed at delivering real-time operational insights and supporting decision-making at both the restaurant and enterprise level. These tools are designed to surface actionable recommendations, identify performance trends, and help operators respond more quickly to changing conditions.

The emphasis on embedding AI into daily workflows is particularly significant. Rather than treating AI as a standalone innovation, the company is positioning it as an operating layer that sits across systems and processes. This reflects a broader evolution in how AI is being deployed in restaurant environments, moving from experimental use cases to more practical, operational applications.

Data integration plays a critical role in enabling these capabilities. Project Catalyst includes investments in data platforms that bring together operational metrics, guest behavior, and analytics into a unified view of performance. This allows for faster and more consistent access to insights across the organization and supports more informed decision-making at every level.

For a brand with ambitions to scale significantly, this kind of data foundation is essential. As the number of locations increases, so does the complexity of managing operations, maintaining consistency, and understanding performance. A fragmented data environment can quickly become a bottleneck. A unified platform, by contrast, can provide the visibility needed to operate effectively at scale.

Shake Shack’s leadership has framed Project Catalyst as a way to strengthen the connection between its operational systems and its guest experience. The company’s focus on “Enlightened Hospitality” remains central, but the tools required to deliver on that promise are evolving. Technology is no longer just enabling service. It is shaping how that service is delivered.

This approach is increasingly common among growth-oriented restaurant brands. As companies expand, they are looking for ways to standardize operations without losing the qualities that differentiate them. Technology platforms that connect ordering, production, data, and guest engagement are becoming critical to achieving that balance.

At the same time, the competitive landscape is evolving. Vendors offering unified commerce platforms, AI-driven analytics, and integrated loyalty solutions are positioning themselves as long-term partners rather than point solution providers. The ability to support multiple aspects of the restaurant operation within a single ecosystem is becoming a key differentiator.

Project Catalyst can be seen as a response to that environment. By bringing together POS, kitchen systems, loyalty, AI and data into a cohesive platform, Shake Shack is building an infrastructure that is designed to scale with the business. It also reduces reliance on disconnected systems that can create inefficiencies and limit visibility.

The financial implications are also worth noting. Technology investments of this scale require significant capital, but they are increasingly viewed as necessary to support long-term growth. Improved operational efficiency, higher guest engagement, and better data-driven decision-making can contribute to stronger performance over time.

For the broader industry, the announcement reinforces a clear trend. Restaurant technology is moving toward integrated platforms that combine multiple capabilities into a single, connected system. AI is becoming embedded in everyday operations. Data is being treated as a strategic asset rather than a byproduct of transactions.

Shake Shack’s Project Catalyst is not just about upgrading systems. It is about building a foundation for the next phase of growth, one that relies on technology to connect people, processes, and data in ways that were not possible just a few years ago.

As more brands pursue similar strategies, the line between hospitality and technology will continue to blur. The operators that succeed will be those that can use these tools to enhance, rather than replace, the human elements that define the restaurant experience.

Source https://restauranttechnologynews.com/2026/04/shake-shack-unveils-restaurant-technology-initiative-focused-on-ai-loyalty-and-unified-commerce/

---

Jan/San & Disposables

 

Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola’s New Can Format, Pitú Uses Aseptic Carton for Alcohol, and Brazilian Food Company Launches Dual-Purpose Labeling Solution
See a few examples of packaging that showcase unique design from Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola, Pitú, and Nacom Goya Ind. E Com. De Alimentos from ThePackHub’s Innovation Zone.

These innovations highlight new and different innovations that are hitting the market.

Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola launch sleek can format to boost shelf appeal and efficiency

Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola has introduced a new 330ml can format across its full range of ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages in the UK, in response to continued growth in the premium RTD segment. The updated packaging will be available nationwide in convenience outlets, with all variants set to roll out to grocery retailers from March in both plain and price-marked formats. The change aims to improve merchandising efficiency, particularly in chilled and impulse channels, while also enhancing the product’s premium positioning and shelf visibility. Consumer research indicates a strong preference for the new sleek design, with 79% of respondents favoring it over the previous version and 65% stating they would be more likely to choose it in-store. In terms of environmental impact, the new format reportedly uses less material, offering improvements in packaging efficiency, transport, and storage.

Source https://www.packworld.com/trends/package-design/article/22963659/thepackhub-jack-daniels-cocacolas-new-can-format-pit-uses-aseptic-carton-for-alcohol-and-brazilian-food-company-launches-dualpurpose-labeling-solution

 

ISSA and NORMI Expand Alliance to Advance Cleaning and Restoration Industries
ISSA, The Association for Cleaning and Facility Solutions and the National Organization of Remediators and Mold Inspectors (NORMI™) have signed a renewed and expanded alliance agreement, effective immediately. This agreement expands the formal alliance between the two organizations which began in 2018.

The goal of the alliance is to promote the understanding that healthy indoor environments require both professional cleaning and proper mold inspection and remediation. This strengthened alliance will accomplish this through increased legislative and regulatory advocacy and by bolstering public awareness for best practices and an integrated approach to indoor environmental health.

Instead of viewing cleaning and remediation as separate disciplines, the alliance promotes a unified approach to advancing the industries. This next phase of the alliance focuses on leveraging the expertise of both ISSA and NORMI for the mutual benefit of their respective member bases with a focus on:

Education & Training – Shared access to each organizations cleaning and mold remediation courses, certifications, and joint educational opportunities.
Integrated Membership Value – A structured alliance option allowing members of each organization to access select benefits from the other.
Media & Branding – Cleanfax will be designated as the official publication for NORMI members, with coordinated editorial collaboration and alliance visibility.
Advocacy – Coordinated government and regulatory engagement on issues impacting cleaning, mold remediation, and indoor environmental health.
“The expansion of this strategic alliance between ISSA and NORMI™ is an important step toward bringing more attention to the holistic approach to ensuring the health and safety of buildings,” said ISSA Executive Director Kim Althoff. “This alliance will help both organizations provide increased member value through joint media, advocacy, and training. We are very excited to build upon our incredible partnership with NORMI and expand these benefits to ISSA members.”

“Expanding our alliance with ISSA will impact the industry in many positive ways,” said NORMI CEO Doug Hoffman. “Aligning our resources and expertise will allow NORMI and ISSA to have a broader impact through advocacy and media, the ability to train more professionals, and ultimately to help more people live and work in healthier indoor environments. Our organization is thrilled that we have been able to forge this alliance and know that it will be of great benefit to all of our members.”

Additionally, this agreement will leverage each organization’s technical expertise, training, certifications, and publications while offering the option for an ISSA/NORMI combo membership.

Member value highlights

ISSA members gain access to NORMI technical bulletins on mold and member pricing for mold assessment and remediation education, events, and certifications.
NORMI members receive Cleanfax as part of their membership, digital access to select ISSA publications and communities, access to the ISSA Show North America show floor, and member pricing on ISSA education, events, and certifications.
About ISSA
With more than 11,000 members—including distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, residential cleaners, and associated service members, ISSA is the association for cleaning and facility solutions. The association is committed to elevating the built environment by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. Headquartered in Rosemont, Ill., USA, the association has regional offices in Milan, Italy; Toronto, Canada; Sydney, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more information about ISSA, visit www.issa.com or call 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, , and YouTube.

About NORMI

The National Organization of Remediators and Microbial Inspectors operates as a not-for-profit 501 (6c) in accordance with the laws of the State of Louisiana and serves as a cooperative network of first responders in the war against indoor air quality and mold problems. Educating both the public and the professional, NORMI provides over 38 certifications covering a range of topics in the building science and indoor air quality space. Learn more by viewing our Mission Statement and Code of Ethics.

For more information, contact ISSA Vice President of Government and Public Affairs John Nothdurft at johnn@issa.com; phone, 847-982-0800.

Source https://www.issa.com/industry-news/issa-and-normi-expand-alliance-to-advance-cleaning-and-restoration-industries/

 

Savvy Jan/San Buyers Target Towel, Tissue Tech
According to jan/san distributors across the country, end user customers are becoming savvier with their purchases. Budget restrictions, staffing challenges, and sustainability initiatives are all impacting product and equipment buy-in. As a result, there is a growing focus on technology, connectivity, and productivity claims.

To outline some of the innovations making an impact on towel and tissue products, as well as their dispensing counterparts, Sanitary Maintenance reached out to industry manufacturers for insights on purchasing trends.

How are smart dispensers with usage tracking and IoT connectivity reshaping purchasing decisions in the restroom paper/dispenser market?
Ross — Dispensers featuring this type of technology are changing the way organizations think about their restroom paper and dispenser systems. Instead of relying on habit, price, or outdated stocking routines, facility teams can now tap into real-time insights pertaining to product levels, traffic patterns, and service needs. This kind of visibility makes it easier to see exactly how much product is being used and when.

Teams can order more accurately, avoid unnecessary restocking, and build schedules around actual demand rather than guesswork. Once organizations get a clearer picture of how their restrooms operate day to day, it becomes easier to prevent runouts, reduce waste, and deploy labor where it really matters. As this shift continues, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled dispensers are becoming more than just modern hardware upgrades. They’re evolving into strategic tools that help facilities evaluate, select, and manage the systems that keep restrooms running smoothly.

What role does sensor-based dispensing technology play in reducing waste and improving hygiene in restroom facilities?
Ferge — Sensor-based dispensing fundamentally shifts restroom management from reactive to proactive. It boosts both hygiene quality and waste reduction efforts by providing unprecedented real-time visibility into usage patterns and supply levels.

The real power comes from combining data-driven cleaning with high-capacity dispensing systems. Together, this pairing enables staff to extend the time between refills, reduces labor burdens, and prevents overstock and waste—turning refills from guesswork into operational excellence.

This combination also minimizes waste by matching supply levels to actual demand patterns while maximizing dispenser efficiency between servicing. More importantly, consistency builds trust. With users likely to leave a bad review or avoid a business following a poor restroom experience, this real-time visibility prevents negative experiences before they even happen.

Ross — Sensor-based dispensing technology is making it much easier for facility teams to cut waste and support better hygiene. With real-time visibility into product levels, usage patterns, and device performance, teams can service restrooms exactly when they need attention instead of sticking to rigid schedules. This shift helps eliminate unnecessary checks and prevents premature refills, which are common habits that can leave up to 20 percent of a roll unused.

Cleaners often choose to overservice rather than risk a runout, but with precise alerts that show which restrooms actually require attention, that trade-off disappears. Teams can focus their time where it really matters, leading to more efficient labor, less consumable waste, and dispensers that stay stocked. The outcome is a cleaner, better managed environment where guests consistently have the soap and towels they need to wash and dry their hands effectively.

What emerging technologies are most promising for improving restroom paper efficiency?
Ferge — The most exciting developments center on connected systems and occupancy intelligence. Dispensers that track usage patterns and sensors that monitor foot traffic are reshaping how facilities approach paper product management.

Equally important is dispensing itself. One-at-a-time dispensing mechanisms prevent overuse by limiting how much product users can grab at once—reducing waste while maintaining supply. Paired with compressed towel technology, facilities can serve more guests between refills.

Product design matters, too. Selecting vendors that prioritize renewable, recycled, and certified compostable materials—with packaging made from paper or cardboard rather than plastic—reduces environmental impact without sacrificing performance. The combination of smart dispensing, efficient products, and sustainable materials ensures optimal efficiency, cost, and environmental responsibility simultaneously.

What strategies have been effective for minimizing downtime and out-of-stock situations for paper products?
Ferge — Effective facility maintenance treats supply management as an operational discipline, not just a box-checking task. Start by understanding a facility’s unique needs, such as peak times and traffic flows. This often reveals whether current solutions are adequate, or if investing in automated, high-capacity systems is the right choice. While there will be an upfront investment, these systems ensure efficiency and save money in the long run.

From there, help customers establish clear protocols with cleaning staff—define roles and communicate priorities. When teams understand why certain restrooms need to be prioritized and feel equipped to tackle unexpected challenges, facilities shift from scrambling to prevention.

Lastly, implement regular check-ins across parties. Track what’s working and what isn’t with end user customers, and use the insights gained to refine workflows. The goal isn’t a one-size-fits-all system. It’s a customized strategy that accounts for a facility’s specific demands and the staff’s capacity to execute it consistently.

How important is sustainability (recycled content, FSC certification, reduced plastic) in toilet tissue and paper towels?
Schulz — Now more than ever, facility decision makers want sustainable options for restroom tissue products, whether it’s driven by company goals, purchasing requirements, or regulations. Advances in technology and supply chain have resulted in high-quality products with sustainability features, including high-recycled content, compressed packaging, certifications like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) that helps support responsible forestry, and reduced plastic packaging.

What, if any, innovations in biodegradable or compostable paper products are gaining traction in commercial restroom settings?
Schulz — As facility managers face increasing pressure to do more with less, restroom products are innovating to help meet that need. Many compostable paper products are available in the market today; innovations in toilet tissue and paper towels often deliver an efficiency or waste reduction benefit. Examples include reduced plastic in product and packaging designs, compressed packages, delivery systems that minimize waste, and connected ‘smart’ systems. Efficiency and sustainability go together, so innovations that reduce waste and effort have positive impacts, too.

Corinne Zudonyi has been in the commercial cleaning industry for over 20 years and is proud to serve as Editor-In-Chief of Contracting Profits (the official publication of BSCAI), Facility Cleaning Decisions, and Sanitary Maintenance (the North American media partner of Interclean Amsterdam) magazines, publications that serve the professional cleaning industry. Additionally, Corinne manages CleanLink.com, the leading digital resource for the commercial cleaning industry, and she uses her industry knowledge to steer educational topics for Clean Buildings at NFMT East.
Corinne is the sole U.S. representative to serve on the international Interclean Amsterdam Innovation Jury, where she weighs in on product trends impacting commercial cleaning on a global scale. She also works closely with Healthy Green Schools & Colleges to advance healthy and sustainable cleaning in educational facilities. As a member of the CLEAN Awards Jury, through the Building Service Contractors Association International, Corinne also helps recognize cleaning contractors and their companies for outstanding service to the industry.
Corinne can commonly be found moderating industry panel discussions, presenting education, and focusing on bringing awareness and affirmation for the wonderful work that people do to keep facilities clean and building occupants safe and healthy.
Follow Corinne on LinkedIn here.

Source https://www.cleanlink.com/sm/article/Savvy-JanSan-Buyers-Target-Towel-Tissue-Tech–32557

 

 

---

Receive Global Foodservice News in your inbox

When you sign up for our mailing list, you’ll receive our bi-monthly newsletter—a comprehensive source of the latest industry updates that will keep you ahead of the game.

CLICK HERE