TORONTO — Kostuch Media Ltd. (KML) held its inaugural Top 30-Under-30 Leadership Summit: Future Forward June 13 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto. Dubbed “A Leadership Summit with a Twist,” the event brought together current leaders and tomorrow’s leaders from the hotel and foodservice industries to dialogue on the most important and pressing issues of the day.
Approximately 150 attendees gathered for a packed day of educational panels, awards presentations and networking opportunities. The day kicked off with the presentation of the Top 30-under-30 Awards of Distinction during a networking breakfast.
“Being here today in person to congratulate this amazing group of leaders and future game-changers within our industry is a huge honour for me,” said Chef Imrun Texeira former Top 30 Under 30 winner who presented this year’s awards. “The class of 2023 is among the strongest group in recent years to represent job segments from chefs to hoteliers to housekeepers to foragers and more. They’re young, they’re smart and they’re entrepreneurial.”
Following the awards, panels on Re-Writing the Rules of Recruitment & Retention; Technology; Environmental Stewardship; and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion brought together a combination of established leaders and recent Top 30 Under 30 winners to bring their unique perspectives to topics impacting their industries.
Following a networking lunch, the KML Green Leadership Awards were presented in both the restaurant and hotel categories.
“It’s been great to see an increasing number of initiatives continue both in the restaurant and hotel space — whether it’s been a reduction in plastics, a focus on eliminating food waste, the growth of local produce as a way to reduce our carbon footprint and a host of other initiatives that prove the tide really has turned and greening is now a part of our every day reality,” said Rosanna Caira, editor/publisher, KML. “Can we do more? Definitely. Do we need to get broader based to incorporate other operational areas and to move past the obvious areas of greening? Most certainly. While the pandemic might have put greening initiatives on the back burner for a couple of years, environmental stewardship is back stronger than ever, not just because consumers demand it, but also because it makes good business sense.”
This year’s Green Leadership Awards went to Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa in the hotel category; Gusto 54 Restaurant Group in the restaurant category; and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts/Accor for the special Green Leadership Award (see the July/August issues of Hotelier and Foodservice and Hospitality magazines for more on our winners).
The day wrapped up with the presentation of KML’s Tops in Hospitality Awards. These annual awards were presented to the two companies that achieved the greatest increase in sales on F+H’s 2023 Top 75 Report, published in the June issue of Foodservice and Hospitality magazine. One award is for top growth from a dollar-value perspective, while the other recognizes percentage growth year-over-year.
This year’s winners are both icons in the Canadian restaurant landscape and both have overcome significant challenges post-pandemic to achieve this growth. The award for Top Dollar Growth was presented this year to MTY Food Group, which recorded a gross sales increase of $619.7 million on our Top 75 Report. The Quebec-based company reported $4.2 billion in gross sales for 2022, up from $3.6 billion at year end 2021.
The award for Top Percentage Growth was presented this year to Mandarin Restaurants. The Brampton, Ont.-based company experienced a 135-per-cent increase in sales in 2022, reporting gross sales of $138.3 million.
For full coverage of the inaugural Top 30-Under-30 Leadership Summit: Future Forward, stay tuned to the Tuesday edition of Hospitality Headlines.
