FEATURE ARTICLE: The Good, The Bad, and The Industry Podcast - Electrification of the Industry - June/July 2023

Feature Article: "The Good, The Bad, and the Foodservice Industry" Podcast:
Don’t Get Shocked By The Electrification of Our Industry

The first episode of MAFSI’s new podcast is now available!

The goal of “The Good, The Bad, and The Foodservice Industry” is to discuss, inform, and speak to relevant topics in the foodservice industry and provide education on those topics to MAFSI members. 

The podcast is hosted by three distinguished members of MAFSI’s Board of Directors and the Research, Data, and Technology (RDT) Committee — Chris Jeens (W.D. Colledge Co., Ltd.) Mike Colligon (High Sabatino Associates), and Shaun Gallagher (The Schmid-Wilson Group). 

Let’s Talk About Electrification

The first episode, "Don’t Get Shocked by the Electrification of our Industry" focused on electrification — a movement toward reducing carbon by restricting the use of natural gas in commercial foodservice applications. Some cities are looking to eliminate gas or gas-powered equipment and replace them with electrical-based appliances. That movement started in California and is moving to various states nationwide and into Canada. 

Since this issue affects the commercial foodservice industry, we must educate ourselves on the pros and cons of electrification and start conversations that will extend beyond what we cover in this podcast.

The hosts discussed some of the benefits of using electricity over gas, specifically for efficiency and safety: 

• Reduction of greenhouse gases
• Precise temperature control so that energy is directed straight to the product
• Cost savings – Electric is, on average, 58% cheaper than gas
• Health and safety – Electricity is more easily controlled, and most electric cooking is likely to be induction. No carbon monoxide comes with gas effluent.
• Electricity is readily available, and it allows more flexibility to bring foodservice to more locations with ventless options that are easy to maintain. 

However, 187 million people use natural gas in their cooking applications today. Many chefs prefer cooking with gas because of the responsive stovetop heat and expanded culinary techniques that they can use. The bottom line is to find a way that we can minimize and offset the carbon footprint, but still allow operators to choose if they want to use gas. 

A restriction on being unable to use gas may inhibit the building of a new restaurant for some operators. For others concerned with the environment and greenhouse gases, it might be an incentive to build. On a retrofit, switching to only using electric is much more challenging. 

After a great discussion, our panel agreed that this topic needs further analysis and planning. The country is not ready right now for every operator to become 100% electric. The infrastructure is not there to support it, and electrification is not an immediate ban on all gas equipment. 

What Can Reps Do to Manage the Build Toward Electrification? 
Knowledge is power. The more you know about the changes and the more you know about the equipment offerings that are coming out through your different manufacturers, the more you read industry news and magazines and are engaged, the more that you use the MAFSI website and in you learn about all the different tools that MAFSI has for you to continue your education, the better.

What Can Manufacturers Do to Manage the Build Toward Electrification? 
It's a golden time for manufacturers to future-proof their businesses. Manufacturers should look at what tools they can offer and how future technology can help address this issue. 

Where to find it!

You can find The Good, The Bad, and The Foodservice Industry on https://gbfsipodcast.buzzsprout.com/ with links to all your favorite podcast apps, or watch GBFSI on YouTube.

This Is Your Podcast! 

Please reach out to any of our podcast hosts to feed them topics for upcoming episodes. 

mike@highsabatino.com
sgallagher@theswg.com
cjeens@wdcolledge.com

Bonus! Early in the podcast, Mike mentioned a graph that he would share on screen but didn’t. Be the first person to ask Mike for that graph, and there’s a gift coming your way!