ACityDiscount attends one of the biggest culinary product training events of the year.
The ACityDiscount team recently attended the 2019 National Association of Food Equipment Dealers (NAFED) Training Expo, held in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 11-12th at the Embassy Suites. A nonprofit buying cooperative founded in 1959 in South Carolina with a focus on creating business opportunities for food equipment dealers and vendors, holds various networking and training events throughout the year for its members.
The NAFED Training Expo featured vendors from top companies including Vollrath, Champion, Beverage-Air, Pitco/Blodgett and Conair/Waring to name a few. Representatives gave unique presentations on the latest and greatest equipment offerings available.
Highlights included a Conair/Waring presentation where representatives gave a live demonstration of some of their best products including their line of heavy-duty food & beverage blenders that pulverize hard food product in a matter of seconds, an impressive cordless immersion blender with a rechargeable battery and a 6-quart combination bowl cutter mixer and food processor with a whipping disk accessory that can make butter, nice! Pitco representatives highlighted their reduced oil volume (ROV) gas and electric fryers. Great for fast-casual franchises and high-end restaurants, operators can save up to 50% on oil costs. Not to mention they gave away a free flat screen television in a contest, which our own customer service team member, Sherri Jackson, won! Go Sherri!
The major takeaway from this training Expo is the rise of induction technology. Vollrath, the buffet people, say that their induction buffet warmers are some of their most popular items because they do not require the use of water and can save big on electricity costs.
Garland rep Paul Hallal explained how induction cooking technology works with the magnetic field and only consumes energy when a pot/pan is on the burner and it is powered on. The rest of the time the induction burner or range does not consume energy, even if it is turned on, saving big on energy. Induction cooktops and griddles are also easier to clean than traditional ones, in a matter of minutes, so It could save on labor cost as well. He also demonstrated how the Garland brand cooktops can bring water to a rolling boil in under 2 minutes.
The NAFED Expo provided a wealth of information from some of the top brands in foodservice. The ACityDiscount team is excited to share this product knowledge with our customers to help them make the best decisions for their kitchen.
Paul Hallal,product sales manager for Garland talks induction technology –from griddles, to wok stations.
Todd Boule, culinary sales director at Convotherm talks about combi-ovens and its user friendly, programmable technology.
Vulcan reps talk about their NRA award-winning fryers and combi-ovens.
Cleveland rep Joe Nicholson, product sales manager, shows the tilt skillet heat maps for their brand to demonstrate even heating.