Recognition and global growth: Flexeserve’s 2024 in review

As 2024 draws to a close, Flexeserve has continued to show unlimited potential. Already the biggest name in hot-holding, this year their mission to advance food-to-go worldwide has meant new partnerships, new faces and new accolades.

With HQs based in the UK and the Americas, Flexeserve has invested in its team by adding key new members to both. RoW Head of Culinary, JP Felix and Culinary Support Specialist, Chris Snaith have been instrumental in furthering food-to-go with new menu ideas designed to increase customers’ food quality and freshness, hot-held for longer than ever thought possible.

Chef JP and Chris, along with Dirk Wissmann – Operational Support Development Manager and Kristian Ward – EMEA Key Account Manager have all recently been awarded Certified Food Service Professional (CFSP) status as part of their continuing professional development.

Meanwhile, in the Americas, having opened their Culinary Support Center in 2023, the Flexeserve Inc. team has also continued to expand. Rachel Paul joined as Key Account Manager, building strategic relationships with new and existing customers, reps and dealers. New Sales Managers, Conrad Randell and Anthony Harris, have become a dynamic team, growing the company’s position throughout North America, Canada and now LATAC. Culinary Director, Sean Landrum, brings over 30 years of experience to his role and is helping operations of all kinds sell more and waste less.

Finally, Flexeserve Inc.’s latest addition, Ed Curtis, joins as Field Service Manager, delivering technical and logistical support to ensure customers’ hot-holding products are fully operational.

“As the business grows, it’s crucial to bring new talent and fresh thinking for us to continue to evolve and advance for our customers,” Global CEO, Jamie Joyce, began. “Over the last 12 months, we’ve grown our manufacturing Partners by 21% and the wider team by 10%. To complement our existing team, who have helped build and develop our incredible global brand, we’ve seen excellent new team members join us across all areas of the business, and their dedication and passion remain paramount to our goals and achievements.”

Increasing presence, establishing products

It’s not just new people that were introduced to Flexeserve in 2024. The Flexeserve Zone product range saw the addition of Lite, unveiled at the NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) Show in October.

Flexeserve Zone Lite is the range’s first unit developed specifically for c-stores. Its compact and ultra-lightweight design means it’s stackable and budget-friendly, perfect for those new to hot-holding or looking to expand a current operation. A showstopping success, Lite was named as one of the NACS Cool New Products, a coveted top ten list highlighting the best innovations featured across the entire show.

Lite will join Flexeserve Zone Xtra as the newest products available for purchase in 2025, ideal for any hot food operation and offering a host of retail opportunities.

Flexeserve’s presence at NACS in Las Vegas was just one stop on the company’s extensive events schedule across the globe. Covering London, Dubai, Las Vegas and more, 2024 saw Flexeserve’s recognition grow at each event, with bigger booths, more conversations and greater interest than ever before.

Warwick Wakefield, Director of Customer Experience, said, “Having exhibited at many of these events previously, I can wholeheartedly say this year has been our best. The Flexeserve brand is ever-growing and we continue to impress attendees across the world with the variety, quality and duration of hot food held by our patented, industry-leading products.”

2024 – The year of Connect

After launching in 2023, Connect by Flexeserve was showcased by our dedicated team to demonstrate to the world how any hot food operation can be automated at the touch of a button.

Previously a winner of a Gold Innovation Challenge award, expectations for Connect were high coming into 2024. At the Sandwich & Food to Go Industry Awards (Sammies), Connect received its next accolade – the Business Development Award. Recognising innovation and creativity within the sector, this cemented Connect as a significant factor in the future of foodservice.

As part of Flexeserve’s ongoing presence and expansion in the Middle East, the team took Connect to GulfHost 2024 in Dubai. Having been shortlisted for one of their prestigious Innovation Awards, it was an excellent chance to establish both Connect and Flexeserve itself further in the region. By the end of the event, there was much to celebrate.

“We were thrilled to see Connect win in Dubai,” Warwick continued, when asked about the service’s Best Front of House Innovation award. “The team has dedicated so much to making this landmark service a success. It’s great to see that recognised and rewarded, especially in an emerging market.”

Away from Dubai and the UK, Connect saw a different kind of success in North America in 2024. Following an impressive trial in stores, the award-winning service has recently been implemented by an American convenience store giant. Connect will soon be used in over 1,000 of their locations, with data showing the potential to save the company millions of dollars in waste and energy costs.

A pioneering new partnership

With Flexeserve Inc. initially finding success in North America and Canada, it was always a goal to establish the market in Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC). Comprising 33 countries, LATAC’s grab-and-go culture is rapidly developing, following trends in North America.

With this development comes a need for better technology and superior food quality. Flexeserve’s new partnership with NS InterMarket fulfils this need. A leading rep throughout LATAC in commercial kitchen equipment and supplies, NS InterMarket brings an exciting combination of local knowledge and experience with innovative ideas.

Dave Hinton, President – Flexeserve Inc., commented, “NS InterMarket shares our vision and will be the catalyst to achieving strategic growth in LATAC. They are injecting energy and creativity into the partnership, using a wealth of experience in what is a new market for us.”
Going into 2025, the combined strengths of Flexeserve and NS Intermarket will be instrumental in gaining a greater presence in the minds of LATAC grab-and-go audiences.

Commitment to excellence – the backbone of Flexeserve

Flexeserve’s achievements in 2024 have been made possible through strong support from wider teams and further investment into manufacturing, testing and safety processes.

This year, the leaders in hot-holding were awarded ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications. These highly sought-after accreditations demonstrate Flexeserve’s commitment to quality, environmental and health and safety excellence in the workplace.

Flexeserve has invested in improvements within its manufacturing and testing facility, including state-of-the-art, semi-automated production lines, 100% reusable shipping materials and a micro e-learning management system. These improvements have been made to boost all areas of Flexeserve’s ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) credentials.

“From the safety and wellbeing of every Partner to sustainable practices and development opportunities, we take our ESG responsibilities extremely seriously,” Jamie Joyce stated. “This year we have also invested in becoming certified with Cyber Essentials Plus, demonstrating our commitment to IT security and data integrity.”

With so much achieved in 2024, Flexeserve now looks to build on this momentum further into 2025 with significant investment in people, culture, facilities and technology.

There will be new products to share with the world and further growth of the Flexeserve brand, increasing the number of hot food operators selling more, wasting less and satisfying their customers again and again.