IFMA The Food Away from Home Association Podcast

After an extraordinary year of chaos and uncertainty, what can the food-away-from-home business expect in 2026? In the debut episode of Reality Check, the head of insights, education and research for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association explains why the business needn’t panic. As Charlie McConnell has summarized it, the sky isn’t falling. He'll provide the color on why the industry is likely to see an acceleration of growth next year, albeit it moderate.  

In the latest Food CEO Xchange podcast, Phil Kafarakis, President & CEO of IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, sat down with Wiggs Civitillo, Founder & CEO of Starfish. Together they explored how advanced product traceability is shaping the future of foodservice supply chains—improving safety, reducing waste, and building consumer trust from farm to fork.

Phil talks about the need for standardized technologies in the food away from home industry with Mani Kulasooriya, co-founder and CEO of Cut+Dry. Kulasooriya got his start in foodservice by helping to transform Sysco into a digital powerhouse. Now, through Cut+Dry, he says that embracing technology and digital solutions isn't just for the "big guys." He says his company isn't selling technology. "We’re giving food service businesses a tech solution to enhance their operations, grow sales and have a positive impact."

UnPHILtered was taped onsite at our COEX 2025 event in Kansas City on March 2, 2025.

Reilly Berk is the CEO of Berk Enterprises a 78-year-old company selling premium foodservice disposables. She is the third-generation head of the company and one of the youngest association board members in our history. She was tapped for the CEO job in her mid-20s but always knew she wanted to be there.

UnPHILtered was taped onsite at our COEX 2025 event in Kansas City on March 2, 2025.

Mark Ourada, Group VP of Foodservice at Hormel Foods, has served on the association board of directors for ten years. As he plans his retirement, he talks with Phil about his 35+ year career at Hormel and what he's learned about the keys to getting ahead in the food-away-from-home industry.

UnPHILtered was taped onsite at our COEX 2025 event in Kansas City on March 2, 2025.

Kelly Crouse, SVP & Chief Commercial Officer at C.H. Guenther & Son and long-time member of the association board of directors, talks with Phil about his 37-year career as he nears his planned retirement. He shares some words of wisdom to those looking to enter the food-away-from-home industry.

Listen in on our exclusive conversation with George Holm, Performance Food Group President and CEO. This discussion was recorded at the association's annual President Conference, November 2024.

Phil talks acquisition strategy, corporate culture and more with George Holm, CEO of PFG. The company is an industry leader and one of the largest food and foodservice distribution companies in North America with more than 150 locations. Holm became leader of PFG when it was acquired by Vistar Corporation in May 2008. Prior to that, he served as President and CEO of Vistar, which he founded in 2002. George grew Vistar, a multi-channel food, snack and beverage distributor, into a $3.5-billion company.

Find Food CEO Xchange on these platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts , and SoundCloud

In this episode of Food CEO Xchange, Phil discusses brand growth and daypart strategies with Chris Tomasso, CEO of First Watch. Tomasso, who has been with the brand for 18 years, explains how the breakfast/lunch concept leans into their commitment to quality fresh ingredients and has added alcohol to their beverage program to meet consumer trends and stay successful in challenging times.

Listen in and take a look to our inaugural Special Edition Food CEO Video Podcast “UnPHILtered.” It features Teri Trullinger from Cargill, our 2025 Board Chairperson; Hugh Roth from Pepsi Foodservice, our Chairman Emeritus and the 2024 Oberkfell Award winner; and Scott Barnewolt from PFG distribution.

UnPHILtered was taped onsite at Presidents Conference 2024 and focuses on our #ifmaworld organization’s evolution. We're excited to enter a new era with new branding that symbolizes our #strongertogether mission. Also, we're extremely proud to have Teri take over Board leadership; she's the third female Chairperson in our 70+ year history.

Dot Foods went from a little mom and pop business based out of a small Midwestern town in the 1960s to the largest foodservice redistribution company in the U.S. today. Episode Three of Food CEO Xchange, has our host, Phil Kafarakis, exploring the family-owned company's business model and history with Dick Tracy, CEO of Dot. He's the 12th child of Dot's co-founders and joined the family business full-time in 1991. Dot Foods has about 7,000 employees and had $8.6 Billion in revenue in 2022.