2025 IFMA Gold & Silver Plate Nomination Form

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS NOVEMBER 15, 2024.

Resources including a list of past Gold & Silver Plate winners, tips on creating a winning nomination, and more available here. 

Please note you can save your work and go back to make changes later by selecting the "Save" button on the bottom of the form.

IFMA Members, thank you for nominating an outstanding operator for the 71st Annual IFMA Gold & Silver Plate Awards.

The Awards Nomination process is extremely competitive, and the selection jury utilizes this completed form to compare nominees. Remember, your nomination should tell the story of what sets this operator apart. Please be as thorough and detailed as possible to highlight your nominee’s unique qualifications.

If there are sections of the form you can’t complete, please still submit the nomination form and we will follow-up. IFMA may conduct research and if needed, schedule a brief interview to complete the form.

If you have questions, please contact IFMA Director of Communications, Kathleen Sysma (kathleen@ifmaworld.com).

Thank you for playing a critical role in this honored tradition!

 

Guidelines for Submission

Eligibility: Any person, worldwide, engaged in the active ownership, management, supervision of or employment at an establishment in one of the designated operator award categories listed below is eligible to receive an IFMA Silver Plate Award. The person must be actively employed. Nominees from previous years may be renominated.

Awards Criteria: The Silver Plate Awards recognize professionals who have demonstrated foodservice industry segment leadership and noteworthy achievement and have made lasting contributions to the advancement of the industry. Silver Plate nominees should:

• Have spent at least two years in foodservice operations management within the  nominated segment
• Have hands-on experience and knowledge that is well founded within the foodservice industry
• Show a commitment to foodservice as a lifetime career
• Maintain the highest standards of ethical and moral behavior
• Demonstrate outstanding leadership and innovation in such areas as financial & operational management, human resource programs and menu/concept execution
• Demonstrate strong support of association and industry-related activities in order to promote, protect and enhance the industry and its image
• Demonstrate a sense of civic pride through voluntary involvement in societal activities

 

Nominators: Nominations may be submitted by anyone in the industry. IFMA members who nominate Silver Plate winners will be recognized in press mentions, during the event, and in pre- and post-event materials. IFMA member nominators will also be asked to escort their award recipient down the red carpet at the awards celebration on May 17, 2025.

Nominee Category

Please read the below descriptions and then select which category your nominee falls under.

1 - Independent Restaurants / Multi-Concept

• Includes companies that may have multiple foodservice establishments operating under the same name/trademark or different names/trademarks.
• At these establishments, dinner may be the primary meal but they also may serve lunch.
• These establishments have: custom cooking of a broad/full menu, wait service to patrons seated at tables, professional chefs/cooks and satisfy patrons’ needs for business or entertainment purposes in a relaxed ambiance.
• Adult beverages may be served in dining room/cocktail lounge.
• A company in this category may have up to 9 units under the same name. If there are 10 or more units under the same name, then the company will be considered a chain. 

2 - Chain Full Service

• Includes companies that have 10 or more foodservice establishments operating under the same name/trademark or different names/ trademarks and maintain some degree of centralized/multi-regional control.
• Establishments generally with (but not restricted to) a moderate price position (determined by average check per diner), chain full service means on-premise consumption, pre-prepared and/or scratch food preparation with wait staff.
• Menu may be specialized, narrowly focused or mainstream.
• Operations may or may not serve adult beverages.
• Eligible establishments include, but are not limited to, casual dining or family dining, fine dining, coffee houses, steak houses, pancake houses and sandwich shops.

3 - Chain Limited Service

• Includes companies that have 10 or more foodservice establishments operating under the same name/trademark and that maintain some degree of centralized/multi-regional control.
• Lunch may be the primary meal, but they may serve dinner and/or breakfast.
• Service is limited.
• Includes but is not limited to chains specializing in hamburgers, chicken, pizza or ethnic food (i.e. Mexican, Chinese); sandwich shops; doughnut shops; frozen custard, yogurt or ice cream stores.

4 - Healthcare

• Includes most non-profit, for-profit and government-run public hospitals – patient, employee and guest feeding.
• Also includes Retirement Centers, Nursing Homes & Senior-Living Facilities: such as skilled nursing homes, nursing and personal care facilities, and residential care facilities – patient, employee and guest feeding.

5 - Elementary & Secondary Schools

• Includes foodservice in elementary and secondary schools (Grades K-12) and related public and private school systems.

6 - Colleges & Universities

• Includes higher education institutions beyond Grade 12. Includes foodservice served in public and private colleges, universities, vocational, business and technical schools, and military and military academy foodservice.

7 - Business & Industry / Foodservice Management

• Includes all operators within the corporate dining sector and senior foodservice management personnel with multi-segment responsibilities. Category encompasses:
  
  • Independent corporate dining self-operators
  • On-premise office and in-plant liaisons
  • Executive or regional management-level personnel from professional foodservice management companies with multi-segment responsibility (i.e. operations in more than one segment such as health care, colleges and universities, correctional feeding, etc.)

IMPORTANT: Foodservice management company personnel with multi-unit or single-unit responsibility in one segment only must be nominated in that segment category.

8 - Grocery, Convenience, & Specialty Retail (formerly Retail & Specialty)

• Includes foodservice professionals from such operations as convenience stores, supermarket foodservice operations, department store, and retail store foodservices (i.e. in-retail coffee shops, specialty counters).

9 - Travel & Leisure Foodservice (formerly Hotels & Lodging)

• Includes hotel and motel management and foodservice professionals at every level of foodservice in establishments that provide both lodging and foodservice to the general public.
• Includes banquet, off-premise caterers, room service, full service, coffee houses, snack shops, lounges, cruise ships, clubs, etc. Also includes foodservice leaders in establishments at theme parks, stadiums and sports arenas, museums, and airlines. 

Past Experience

Please share with the jury your nominee’s experience and past contributions and accomplishments (ie. years in foodservice, major previous roles, contributions to their companies and/or the industry).

Current Experience

Please share with the jury the type of impact your nominee is making and what sets them apart. Please include growth metrics where applicable/available. Areas of focus might include:

• Successful management and marketing accomplishments in such areas as food quality, menu or concept development, nutritional programs, food safety, and food preparation and presentation.
• Successful financial and operational management accomplishments in such areas as cost control, quality control and marketing and merchandising.
• Successful human resources accomplishments in such areas as innovative staffing models, training programs, employee motivation programs, and expansion of career opportunities.
• Important contributions to the prestige and public image of the foodservice industry through participation in professional associations/organizations as well as community and civic involvement.

Beyond the Operation

Please share with the jury the personal characteristics and activities make your candidate a role model for others in the foodservice industry. Areas of focus might include community work or mentoring.

Operation Description

Please provide a description of the nominee’s operation. Share details about the scope and depth of your nominee’s operation.

Operation Stats

Please share figures that illustrate the scale of your nominee’s operation. If there are any stats you cannot accurately provide, please use "N/A" and IFMA staff will follow up to assist you.