According to SHFM, the award is given to “a deserving Associate Member at the annual conference, in recognition of extended, exemplary, and dedicated service to the Society, their community, and our industry.”
A 40-year veteran of the foodservice industry, Von Kaenel began his career as a welder with Avtec in 1974 and has held numerous membership and advisory positions with FCSI, SHFM, NACUFS, ACFSA, CEE, and NAFEM while holding sales and management positions with Unified Brands. He currently serves as Allied Representative to FCSI – The America’s Division Board of Trustees.
Unified Brands and its Groen, Randell, Avtec, A la Cart, and Power Soak product lines have leading industry positions in cooking equipment, cook-chill production systems, custom fabrication, refrigeration, ventilation, utility distribution, conveyor systems, continuous motion ware washing systems and meal delivery systems.
As an operating company within the Refrigeration and Food Equipment segment of Dover Corporation, Unified Brands is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has operations in Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
Von Kaenel is shown above with past Robert Pacifico award recipients (from left to right) Barbara Kane, Rod Collins, Gerald White, Charlene Goff, Eric Von Kaenel, Mike Johnston, and Dick Hynes
(photo: FSA Management Group).
