Bringing the Industry Together

 

By Phil Kafarakis, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, President & CEO 

December 2024 

 

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

 

 

Sometimes the thing we really need is to hear from someone who has faced what we face and has surmounted the challenge. They know the way. They’re ready to share how they did what they did.

 

To hear that voice, to be present as that new-to-us speaker explains how to access the way forward....well, that gives us courage and confidence and renews us for our climb.

 

It’s one of the best things you can receive from membership in an organization like ours. For over 70 years, as part of our mission, we have brought together leaders from across the industry to share their pathways to success with the wider community. Peers bringing best practices forward and making sense of confusion can change our business trajectory and our careers.

 

One way we facilitate that is through in-person events like our recent Presidents Conference. This event has been held for nearly as long as we’ve been in existence, and it has evolved as our industry has over the years. This November at the conference, with our newly expanded membership that now includes foodservice operators and members of the supply chain, we focused on highlighting diverse perspectives that address common issues.

 

For instance, both Texas Roadhouse and Whataburger are two shining examples of foodservice success in a less than steady business environment. Executives from both companies were on hand and shared personal experiences in leadership and building operational excellence.

 

In discussing the use of emerging technologies for both front- and back-of-house operations, Gina Tobin, President of Texas Roadhouse, cautioned attendees to not lose sight of the central value of personal hospitality. “While a lot are moving to tech and mobile solutions,” she said, “most people still want real interaction and connection...so we’re focusing on HI (human intelligence) instead of AI.”

 

And Alexander Ivannikov, CAO & EVP of Whataburger echoed her sentiment. “The industry is very competitive, and we’re committed to earning every transaction...despite all the changes, people always want to eat and have that hospitality experience.”

 

From the distribution segment of the industry, George Holm, CEO of Performance Food Group Company (PFG) shared his history and his well-earned perspective on the human components of business.

 

PFG is a huge corporation and, in his 46-year history in foodservice distribution, Holm has participated in a number of very large mergers. When asked about establishing an integrated corporate culture, he said that he had found that it coalesces in its own time. “We don’t require recently acquired companies to [change their models],” he said. “We don’t even press them for a name change...With our new acquisitions, we learn as much from them as they will learn from us.”

 

Being flexible, staying engaged, listening to diverse voices. These were themes that played out across the Presidents Conference. And we expect that they will continue to have value for the foreseeable future.

 

The conference also included the reveal of our new brand identity (reported in last month’s issue of Pulse) and focused on a number of topics that impact businesses across the food-away-from-home ecosystem. One of these, food waste, will be a high-priority initiative for us and our membership beginning in 2025.

 

As Whitney Ellersick, Sr. Director of Nutrition Services at Portland (OR) Public Schools stated in a conference panel on the subject, “Changes are needed across the whole supply chain...we can improve communication across the industry and commit to a pro-active approach that will make a real difference.”

 

Another hot topic – the upcoming implementation of FSMA Rule 204 was outlined for conference attendees by Angela Fields, Senior Consumer Safety Officer at the FDA. The agency is responsible for overseeing industry compliance of the new food safety traceability regulations.

 

Fields explained that the FDA has identified the steps needed to comply. “The rule is tech-agnostic,“ she stated. “You are not required to maintain digital records, but keeping electronic records will make reporting much easier.” FSMA 204 goes into effect in January 2026.

 

Additional conference topics included new research on consumer purchasing behavior, upcoming federal legislation impacting the industry, working with sales agencies, and much more. Our 2025 Presidents Conference will be held November 2-4 in Scottsdale.

 

 See our full 2025 event schedule

 

 

---

---