1. Smarter Kitchens: Technology That Simplifies Operations 

Labor is your most volatile cost in the food service industry. High turnover turns training into a constant drain on time and resources. Equipment with intuitive, user-friendly controls bridges the skills gap, allowing entry-level staff to execute complex menus with consistency and confidence. 

Automation reduces manual steps, while built-in data and diagnostics provide visibility. This reduces the mental load on your team, allowing them to focus on the customer rather than troubleshooting equipment, resulting in a more customer-focused kitchen. Smarter kitchens buy back time. 

It means fewer manual steps in the prep process and shortened training cycles. When staffing is tight, this ensures you can still deliver high-quality food without burning out your team. 

Equipment Solutions:

• Henny Penny FlexFusion Combi Ovens: The centerpiece of a smart kitchen, a Henny Penny FlexFusion Combi Oven replaces multiple pieces of traditional equipment in one footprint. Touchscreen controls and programmable humidity settings allow operators to standardize complex recipes, so a new hire can achieve chef-level results at the push of a button.
• Henny Penny Evolution Elite Open Fryers: This open fryer automates oil management to save labor and resources. Built-in Smart Touch Filtration filters oil automatically to reduce manual handling. Advanced load sensing adjusts cook times for any batch size, ensuring high-volume output with significant oil savings.

2. Faster Production: High-Throughout, Low-Labor Equipment 

Speed drives profitability. In a high-volume operation, you cannot sell what you cannot cook.  

In 2026, the focus is on equipment that increases throughput without adding labor. Faster cook cycles and rapid recovery times allow kitchens to meet demand, shorten customer wait times, and increase table turns or drive-thru volume without expanding your footprint. 

Equipment Solutions:

• Henny Penny Velocity Series Pressure Fryer: Built for high volume operations, the Henny Penny Velocity Series Pressure Fryer provides low oil usage that specifically extends oil life, resulting in significant cost reductions. It also boasts fast recovery times, allowing you to be ready for the next 8-head chicken load immediately. Automatic oil filtration also keeps production moving during peak periods. 
• Prática High Speed Ovens: A high speed oven for restaurant use needs to be versatile, and Prática’s high speed commercial ovens deliver. Cooking up to 10 times faster than conventional ovens, they allows you to toast, bake, and grill in seconds, providing a hot menu item in the time it takes to pour a drink.

3. Fresher Food: Meeting Demand for Quality and Transparency 

Expectations of retail and convenience store food have evolved. Consumers no longer want “packaged and preserved” offerings. They want “fresh-prepared” food they can see, and they want it to look as if it was made moments ago. 

Maintaining that visual appeal across extended hold times is challenging, but modern prep and display equipment make “fresh” scalable. You can batch cook without sacrificing quality — showcasing texture, moisture, and color — and display high-margin items in high-traffic areas. This helps kitchens deliver made-on-site meals efficiently, turning your merchandiser into a profit center. 

Equipment Solution:

• Fri-Jado Hot & Cold Merchandisers: A commercial hot and cold merchandiser displays freshly made meals, maintaining ideal holding temperatures to keep grab-and-go options looking and tasting fresh. Customize the hot and cold merchandiser setup to cross-merchandise meals and drinks, or salads and warm sides to drive incremental sales.