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The foodservice industry is evolving faster than ever. Foodservice operators are grappling with accelerated digital transformation, changing consumer behaviors due to economic challenges and demographic shifts, and ongoing supply chain challenges left over from the pandemic. All of these forces are creating unprecedented change in the industry (see last month’s Kinetic12 Network newsletter article “ 2024 Reflections: Predictions vs. Reality in the Foodservice Industry ” for a more in-depth look at the effect of these forces across the industry). These shifting market dynamics, customer expectations, and competitive pressures mean that sales leaders must adapt –or risk falling behind. To drive profitable growth in 2025, organizations must go beyond traditional sales approaches and focus on efficiency, effectiveness, and agility. The most successful sales leaders are implementing three powerful techniques to ensure their teams are set for success: sales benchmarking, strategic account planning, and team empowerment.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams," Eleanor Roosevelt once said. In 2025, the foodservice industry stands poised to make those dreams a reality, not through small steps but by daring to reimagine what’s possible. This is our moment to think bigger, act bolder, and reshape how we connect with consumers in ways that inspire loyalty and ignite imaginations. The rules have changed. Consumers demand flexibility, authenticity, and seamless engagement across every channel. The question isn’t if we adapt –it’s how we lead. This year, success will belong to those who transform challenges into opportunities: redefining hospitality not as a place, but as an experience, meeting consumers wherever they are, and turning every interaction –digital or physical –into a moment that matters.  Real change requires more than innovation –it demands collaboration. Operators and suppliers must unite to build solutions that address today’s realities while shaping tomorrow’s possibilities. Together, we have the chance to craft an industry that doesn’t just serve but inspires, creating a future in which foodservice transcends expectations and redefines its impact on the world. The following 10 predictions from Kinetic12 outline the key areas where transformation will happen, offering a roadmap for how operators and suppliers can seize the opportunities ahead.

As we reflect on 2024, it’s evident that the foodservice industry’s transformation has continued to redefine the way operators and suppliers navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities. This year demanded bold strategies, visionary thinking, and an unrelenting focus on collaboration. By adapting to the insatiable consumer, prioritizing profitability, leveraging technology, and addressing supply chain volatility, the industry has proven that resilience and creativity are key to staying ahead.

So, your budget for 2025 has been set, and your final sales targets were just handed down to you. You lobbied for a +2% target increase in sales, but your management wants a +7% top-line revenue growth and 9% gross margin dollars growth! Your thoughts wander through a range of emotions: fear, disbelief, and panic set in. Don't they understand that our industry is flat? Personally, I used to call these targets "GGQs," short for "God-given quotas!”

In a world of chaos, the opportunity for change and to think differently is born. And right now, there is no greater need than to come to the table with an open mind and fresh ideas.  In many ways, when we look at the restaurant-chain landscape, we've already made substantial changes over the past four years, which have accelerated the transformation of business as we know it. Yet, we still remain at a crossroads where traffic is not where it needs to be, inflation has outpaced the consumer's willingness to spend, and the economics of the restaurant industry remain at a critical point, teetering on what we deem as sustainable. Yet, operators are still opening new units and expanding within and outside their four walls to conceive of creative solutions that combat headwinds.

Navigating Success Through Strategic Insight

Iconic former Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski once said, “Growth creates complexity, which requires simplicity”. Yet, simplicity is often overlooked as the first step towards achieving growth. In restaurants, that can include activities such as streamlining operations, reducing complexity and focusing on core strengths. Engaging in these simplification actions prior to pursuing a growth agenda can help restaurant operators increase efficiency, achieve better customer satisfaction and ultimately free up resources for business expansion. For suppliers, understanding where their chain account customers are streamlining and what that effort requires, is critical to providing support and to being a best-in-class partner. Under the Kinetic12 Simplification Model, there are four levels of simplification activities: Rationalizing, Streamlining, Mechanizing and Mainstreaming. Each of these levels becomes more challenging for the operator to implement because they require additional resources, a greater time and financial commitment and seek to redefine ingrained ways of working.

There is no better time to re-examine your business model to ensure it's designed for success. Here, we examine how foodservice manufacturers should plan, structure, engage with customers, and go to market to be successful in this quickly evolving environment. To do that, Kinetic12 has outlined eight business success factors that define best-in-class. This framework provides a lens through which firms can examine their business models and identify areas of change needed to set their organization up for continued relevance, growth, and profitability.  As forward-thinking leaders, we must guard against complacency and continuously evaluate our business models in light of the ever-changing market. Never has that been truer than it is today.

"Foodservice is about relationships" is a common phrase we hear from those who work in the industry, and it's as true today as ever. However, what's changed is how to build those effective relationships. For sales professionals in foodservice, the key to success lies in building the right relationships with best-fit customers to enable you to maximize mutual growth and profit. When it comes to buyer-seller relationships with national accounts, the bar has been raised, and what worked in the past isn't necessarily what's working for operators today. That's why Kinetic12 has developed the following model, which provides sales leaders with a strategic perspective of how the selling model has changed over time and how to best meet the needs of operators today to accelerate sales growth.