Steven Johnson

Foodservice sampling = PROOF 🔥 Retail buyers discover. Operators decide. Expert lessons from MMM with Maria Cruz-Lind: ✅ real-time tasting beats “take one” ✅ booth roles (1 sells, 1 preps) ✅ power + water + handwashing plan ✅ scan leads AND add notes ✅ follow up fast (2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months) As we gear up for The RC Show 2026, this is the bar: make it easy for an operator to say yes. When will you shape your sampling strategy? Maria Lind Sanamaria Canadian Women In Food Restaurants Canada

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Innovation is on the menu at Ventura Foods. The Irvine-based company was recently featured in the Orange County Business Journal for its continued growth and evolution into a flavor-forward partner for major foodservice brands. By combining culinary expertise with strategic expansion, Ventura Foods is helping lead the next chapter of the industry from right here in Orange County. https://lnkd.in/gq8SG3WQ #irvinecompany #lovewhereyouwork #worklife #innovation

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Flavor innovation is fueling the next wave of growth in convenience foodservice and consumer packaged goods. But not every trend has staying power. At #NACSShow2025, Philip Santini, Senior Director of Foodservice and Bar Strategy at Rutter's breaks down how to balance creativity with business savvy, and how to spot the difference between a fleeting fad and a flavor worth betting on. Learn how to turn Limited Time Offers into Lifetime Customer Value from our takeaways below.

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To cap off a wild week of beer and alc bev distribution news, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits is making another major acquisition. It will buy Eagle Rock's Colorado biz, a 13-mil-case nearly statewide AB house that also sells Sazerac and many other brands. Eagle Rock entered CO just 5.5 yrs ago when it acquired AB's branch, and proceeded to invest a lot of money building a new warehouse, revamping an existing one and building out its portfolio. But after AB sent an intensive market evaluation team to CO last Jun, 9 months later, this sale to SGWS is the ultimate result. This is the 2nd AB distrib deal announced for SGWS to buy an AB distrib just this week, following its deal for Long Island, NY-based Clare Rose. Between those two and AB's former NYC branch purchased last fall, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits will have bought about 22 mil cases from 3 AB distribs in short order. https://lnkd.in/epd8_M5z

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🚨 Major shake-up in the beverage alcohol industry: Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), the second-largest distributor in the U.S., is pulling out of California—the nation’s top spirits market—following the loss of key suppliers. A major move with far-reaching implications. https://lnkd.in/gUSdviR5 #BeverageIndustry #SpiritsBusiness #AlcoholDistribution #SupplyChain #BusinessNews

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"For the dairy industry, interest in whole foods creates a timely opportunity. From cheese to milk to yogurt, dairy competes well in a marketplace that increasingly rewards familiar whole foods," says Dairy Council of California's Amy DeLisio in a guest column: https://lnkd.in/gDwKf5_s

The secret to foodservice success? Focus on Gen Z and value-conscious diners. Technomic, Inc.’s Q4 State of the Industry webinar—sponsored by Entegra—revealed that Gen Z craves health, authenticity and global flavors, while middle-class consumers demand value without compromise. Our latest blog breaks down these insights and shows how partnering with a GPO like Entegra can help you attract these key demographics and save on food costs. Start turning insights into action today. Check out the blog and webinar replay: https://lnkd.in/efy9KWSB

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Succeeding in today’s competitive beverage market requires a full-view analysis of the beverage alcohol and beer industry – one that brings together On- and Off-Premise data for a complete, unified market perspective. At this year’s National Beer Wholesalers Association's Annual Conference, join Andrew Hummel, Director - Beverage Alcohol, North America, and Kaleigh Theriault, Director - Beverage Alcohol Thought Leadership, as they present: Zoom Out, Win Big: Giving Your Team a Full View of the Total Beverage Alcohol Market. Attendees will receive an exclusive first look at new analysis to challenge industry myths—combining scan, panel, and On Premise insights. As consumers continue to moderate their beverage alcohol consumption, understanding the total industry landscape is more critical than ever. This session, tailored for beer distributors, will explore: -Navigating both On- and Off-Premise channels -Uncovering growth opportunities in a shrinking volume market -Deploying Beer First tools to complete the sale 📍 Attending National Beer Wholesalers Association Convention & Trade Show? Stop by and connect with Drew and Kaleigh in person to dive deeper into the insights and tools that can help your team win big. #TheFullView #Beer #BeverageAlcohol #OnPremise #Distribution

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Some in the media and industry "experts" are saying the foodservice labor market is stabilizing. Here is what the data actually shows. The U.S. civilian labor force contracted by nearly 5 million people between March 2025 and March 2026. Labor force participation among workers under 25 has dropped steadily since late 2023. Participation among the most educated workers fell to a record low in February 2026, the lowest reading in data going back to 1992. Foodservice operations have filled entry-level roles with two groups. Teenagers getting their first job. And career workers who stayed in the industry. Both pipelines are narrowing at the same time. More than half of all American adults held their first job in a food and beverage operation. That number is falling because fewer young people are entering the workforce at all, and those who are have more visible alternatives than any previous generation. 53% of Gen Z report having a side hustle. 63% of gig workers chose that path specifically for schedule flexibility. The competition for entry-level foodservice labor is not the unit across the street. It is an app on a phone that pays on demand, requires no uniform, and answers to no manager. Operators waiting for the labor market to normalize are waiting for a generation that has already made different choices. #AutonomousFoodservice #RestaurantIndustry #FranchiseDevelopment #FoodserviceLeadership #FoodserviceDirector #HospitalOperations #CampusDining #ManagedServices #InstitutionalFoodservice

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These shifts are also happening in Australia. Three medium sized state based distributors I have worked with left the industry in the last 6 months. Generally, sales margins did not cover their warehousing, freight and sales costs. There is an inherent advantage of scale in distribution but too many brands in the book and the trade buyers drown and producers can’t cut through. The small distributors who do well have a niche portfolio of brands with a clear USP. The point of difference matters. Not only does your wine brand need to stand out (and this isn’t about labels, it’s more about purpose), you need to be aligned with the right distributor. And there’s less of those with each passing week….? 🤔

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After the Failed Kroger–Albertsons Merger: Looking Ahead Amid Store Closures, Market Pressures, and Strategic Reorientation #FoodSales #Grocery #Deli #ConvenienceStores #Restaurants #GrocerantGuru #Grocerant #Foodservice #Foodservicesolutions #Kroger #Albertsons #Produce #Water #Beef #Chicken https://lnkd.in/gZ8Kcxiu

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Is the beverage business collapsing? You’d think so if you read the headlines. Wine’s struggling. Craft breweries are closing. Costs are up. Consumers are cautious. But here’s what I’m actually seeing in the market. The brands that show up still win. The ones training staff. Pouring samples. Working accounts. Solving problems. Not hiding behind spreadsheets and emails. Because in this business you don’t get paid on PowerPoints. You get paid on what moves. Welcome to the DrinkUP Podcast, Daily Industry Brief. Truthfully, Sam #beverageindustry #drinkup #bevassets #craftbeverage #winebusiness #spiritsindustry #beermarket #brandbuilding

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The era of trial is over for hard seltzer, and breweries and beverage companies need to try harder to attract fickle consumers. Areas of growth can include producing novel flavors, channeling cocktails, and finding on-premise occasions. Read article > https://lnkd.in/gbwuRkgM

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From GLP-1-friendly menu innovations to bold beverage creations and “swavory” flavor mashups, new menu trends are shaping the future of foodservice. The latest U.S. and Canada State of the Menu reports highlight the trends, forecasts and strategies operators are using to stay competitive. Read the full press release in the Technomic newsroom: https://zurl.co/MKiuL

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If Trends Went to a Party… Who Would Stay All Night? Honored to be featured in Menu Matters LLC Matters’ Mess Hall on the topic of food industry trends. In our conversation, we explored how different trends would behave at a party — which ones arrive loud, which quietly reshape the room, and which slip out early. We unpacked how to determine longevity, how to make sense of conflicting indicators, which trend is unlikely to take off in 2026, and most importantly, how to make a trend relevant to your brand instead of chasing it blindly. A big thank you to Mike Kostyo and Maeve Webster for the thoughtful spotlight and lively discussion. Watch the full podcast here: https://lnkd.in/e7SpwG65 #FoodIndustry #TrendForecasting #InnovationStrategy #MenuMatters #CulinaryTides #SuzyBadaracco Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e7SpwG65

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Foodservice Feature from Brian Brozovic 🥩🍽️ California’s foodservice industry has weathered its share of storms — from pandemic shutdowns and high labor costs to supply restrictions resulting from Prop 12. Many operators have closed their doors, but others like House of Beef have found ways to adapt and thrive. Owner Steve Medlen has adapted to the challenging climate with live music, outdoor dining and pre-portioned, value-added products that save labor and reduce waste. #foodservice #meatprocessing 🔗 Read the full feature: https://ow.ly/IJ7j50WFwsa 📸: House of Beef

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Q1 2026 Taproom Trends: Engagement Down About 40% In Q1, about 44% of guests experienced high engagement. In Q4, it was around 75%. That’s a 31 point drop. This isn’t about taprooms getting worse. Most visits were still friendly and efficient. But too many stopped there. Fewer recommendations. Less follow up. More transactional service. And that shows up in the numbers. If you’re not guiding the experience, most visits stay at one drink. No flight. No second round. No to go. There's the opportunity. https://lnkd.in/e87Q_gqR

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