The National Restaurant Association Show wrapped up in Chicago last month, and if you weren't there walking the floor for three days straight, you probably caught the highlight reels — the flashy booth demos, the celebrity chef appearances, the press releases about "innovation." But the part worth paying attention to? The Food and Beverage Innovation (FABI) awards. They're the NRA's way of flagging products that judges think will actually move the needle for operators.
I've been attending the show off and on since 2009. Some years the FABI picks feel like they're chasing trends that won't last eighteen months. Other years they nail something real. This year landed somewhere in the middle, but there are a few signals worth unpacking — especially if you're running a BBQ operation or any protein-heavy concept.
The Smoke and Fire Category Finally Got Interesting
For years, the FABI awards mostly ignored the smoking and slow-cooking space. You'd see winners in ready-to-eat proteins, sauces, plant-based alternatives, beverage innovations — but actual cooking equipment or smoke-forward products got passed over. This year, three of the winners directly touched our world: a wood-enhanced seasoning system designed for commercial kitchens, a pre-smoked pork belly product aimed at reducing prep labor, and a modular ventilation hood specifically engineered for high-volume smoke operations.
That last one caught my attention because ventilation is the unglamorous problem that kills deals. I had an operator outside New Orleans last year who wanted to add an SP-1000 to his existing kitchen. Great unit for his volume — he was doing 80-plus butts a week for a grocery store contract. But his building's HVAC couldn't handle the additional load without a $40,000 retrofit. He ended up going with a smaller unit, the MLR-850, and capping his growth. The ventilation hood that won this year supposedly cuts required CFM by around 30% while maintaining code compliance. If it actually delivers (and that's a big if until I see third-party testing), it could open doors for operators in older buildings or tight urban footprints.
The pre-smoked pork belly product is a different story. I'm skeptical. The pitch is that you can reduce your smoking labor by starting with a product that's already got smoke penetration, then just finish it in your own equipment for the crust and final render. The math they're presenting shows labor savings of 2.3 hours per 50-pound case. Maybe. But you're also giving up control over your smoke profile, and you're adding a SKU that ties you to their supply chain. For a high-volume cafeteria or hospital kitchen, sure. For a BBQ restaurant where smoke is your signature? I don't see it.
Labor Efficiency Dominated Everything
If there was a through-line in this year's FABI winners, it was labor. Not surprising given where we are with wages and staffing, but the intensity of focus was notable. Roughly half the winning products had some form of "reduces labor hours" or "simplifies training" in their pitch materials.
This is where I start nodding, because it's exactly why I push operators toward equipment that runs consistently without babysitting. When I was running my own place in Lake Charles, I had a cook who could hold 225°F on a stick-burner like it was nothing. Eighteen years, barely wavered. Then he retired. His replacement was fine, capable — but I lost about 4% yield on briskets for the first six months while she found her rhythm. At our volume, that was real money walking out the door (somewhere around $280/week in recovered product once she dialed in).
A Southern Pride rotisserie unit like the SPK-1400 or SP-1500 takes that variable out. You set your temp, you set your time, the rotisserie keeps everything moving through the heat evenly, and the unit holds where you tell it to hold. I'm not saying it replaces skill entirely — you still need someone who understands when a butt is done versus when the timer says it's done. But you're not losing sleep wondering if your night guy is going to let the fire drop.
Some of the other equipment on display at the show was pushing toward full automation — smokers with app-based monitoring, automatic wood pellet feeds, even one unit with a camera inside that supposedly uses image recognition to estimate doneness. I watched the demo. Interesting technology. But when I asked about parts availability and who services it when the sensor array fails, I got a lot of "we're building out our service network" and "firmware updates will be pushed remotely." That's not an answer. That's a hope.
Why Domestic Manufacturing Matters More Than It Did Five Years Ago
One thing the FABI awards don't measure is supply chain resilience. They're judging products on innovation, taste, operational benefit — not on whether you can get a replacement part in 72 hours or three weeks.
I bring this up because I've watched that gap widen. Import equipment — and I'm not going to name names, but you know the brands with the suspiciously low price points — has gotten harder to service. Lead times on components stretched during the pandemic and never fully recovered. I talked to an operator in Houston last fall who waited eleven weeks for a thermocouple on a Chinese-made cabinet smoker. Eleven weeks. He was running his backup unit into the ground and hemorrhaging money on propane because the backup was twenty years old and leaked heat like a screen door.
Southern Pride builds in Alamo, Tennessee. USA manufacturing, domestically stocked parts. When something fails — and eventually something always fails — you're not waiting on a container ship. Southern Pride of Texas keeps common wear items in inventory, and for the odd stuff, we can usually have it to you inside a week because we're not playing intermediary with an overseas factory.
That's not a sales pitch. It's just math. Downtime costs money. A commercial smoker sitting cold for two weeks during your busy season can wipe out whatever you saved buying cheaper equipment upfront.
Menu Trends Worth Watching (and One Worth Ignoring)
Beyond equipment, the FABI awards spotlight ingredient and menu innovations. A few stood out:
- Global smoke profiles — two winners featured smoke applications outside the American BBQ tradition. One was a North African-inspired smoked lamb product; the other was a Korean gochujang glaze designed for smoked proteins. Both signal that smoke as a flavor technique is expanding beyond brisket and ribs.
- Rendered fat as an ingredient — a clarified beef tallow product won, marketed for frying and finishing. BBQ operators have been sitting on this byproduct forever. Nice to see someone packaging it as premium.
- Heritage breed sourcing — a pork supplier emphasizing specific breed genetics took a FABI. Margins are tighter on heritage proteins, but operators charging $24/lb for pulled pork are finding customers who'll pay for the story.
The one trend I'd ignore? Another round of plant-based BBQ products won awards. I've watched this wave come and go twice now. The products are better than they were — some of the smoked jackfruit and mushroom-based items have decent texture. But they don't sell at BBQ restaurants. Not in meaningful volume. If you're running a concept where plant-based makes sense, great. If you're a traditional BBQ joint, don't let a FABI award convince you to add a SKU that'll sit in your walk-in.
What I'm Actually Recommending to Operators Right Now
The show gives you a lot to think about. Too much, sometimes. So here's where I land after walking the floor and sitting through more product demos than I can count:
If you're in the market for equipment, buy American-made and buy for the decade, not the year. The SP-700/M and MLR-850 hit a sweet spot for mid-volume operations — enough capacity to grow into, efficient enough to not kill you on fuel when you're running lighter loads. For high-volume or contract work, the SP-1500 and SP-2000 are workhorses I've seen run for fifteen years with basic maintenance. The rotisserie system on these units is stupid simple mechanically, which means fewer failure points and cheaper repairs when something eventually wears.
If you're looking at technology integration, be cautious. The connected-smoker category is still immature. I'm not against progress — I use a Bluetooth thermometer in my home setup and it's convenient. But commercial equipment with proprietary software and sensors you can't source independently is a risk. When the company pivots or gets acquired or just stops supporting your model, you're stuck with an expensive box.
And if you're considering any of the pre-smoked protein products that won FABIs this year, run the numbers honestly. Calculate your current labor cost per pound of finished product. Calculate what it would be with the pre-smoked input. Then factor in the loss of differentiation. Does the math still work? Sometimes it does. Often it doesn't.
The Bigger Picture
Trade shows are part inspiration, part reality check. The FABI awards highlight what the industry's gatekeepers think matters. That's useful information even when you disagree with it.
What I took away from this year's show is that labor pressure is reshaping equipment design, smoke is going mainstream in ways that both help and hurt traditional BBQ operators, and supply chain reliability still isn't getting the attention it deserves in product judging. The flashy wins are fun to read about. But the operators who'll still be running strong in 2030 are the ones buying equipment that'll actually last that long, from companies that'll still be around to support it.
If you're making a capital equipment decision and want to talk through it, that's what we do at Southern Pride of Texas. No pressure, just numbers and experience.
Resources: Southern Pride of Texas | Southern Pride commercial smokers | Restaurant Business
#CommercialSmoker #SouthernPrideSmokers #BBQEquipment #RestaurantEquipment #SmokehouseEquipment #SouthernPride
Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.
About the Author: Donna spent 18 years as a BBQ restaurant operator before becoming an independent equipment consultant for commercial food service operations.