Richmond Hill, ON March 10, 2026 — Affinity Group Canada is pleased to announce our appointment as the national foodservice broker for Love Struck, an award-winning global brand known for its clean-label, real-fruit smoothie mixes and blended beverage solutions.

Love Struck brings a refreshing, premium approach to frozen beverages. With a commitment to quality and transparency, Love Struck uses 100% real fruit, contains no added sugar, and avoids artificial flavours, colours, and preservatives. Their pre-portioned frozen blends deliver convenience, consistency, and zero waste; meeting the needs of today’s operators looking for simple, profitable, and great-tasting beverage offerings.

As part of this national launch, distribution for Love Struck products will be available through CDC Foods, ensuring broad accessibility, dependable service, and a streamlined supply chain for operator’s coast to coast.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Love Struck and introduce their innovative, clean-label beverages to the Canadian foodservice market,” said Carmela Bucarelli, Director of Marketing at Affinity Group Canada. “This collaboration, combined with CDC’s national reach, strengthens our ability to support operators with solutions that truly align with today’s consumer expectations.”

Love Struck’s lineup includes:

• Frozen smoothie mixes
• Blended shakes and frappes
• Vegan-friendly, allergen-conscious fruit blends
• Ready-to-blend portions designed for speed, freshness, and consistency

These products are ideal for cafés, restaurants, QSR, hospitality, healthcare, education, and any operator looking to elevate their beverage program with minimal labour and maximum flavour.

Affinity Group Canada looks forward to supporting the national growth of Love Struck and delivering exceptional value and innovation to customers across the country.

TORONTO – invited thousands of industry professionals to the this past week at The International Centre in Mississauga. The three-day trade event, which took place from March 8 to 10, brought together industry leaders, operators, and suppliers from across the country to discuss trends, innovation and the future of Canada’s foodservice sector.

RC Show 2026 launched their theme Into the Beyond, which focused on encouraging operators to move beyond outdated practices and prepare their businesses for a rapidly evolving landscape. Programming throughout the event emphasized reinvention, operational resilience, emerging techniques, meaningful guest experiences and the role of hospitality in strengthening culture, community and the national economy.

“Every single day, 23 million people in Canada make a purchase from a foodservice establishment. This is a $125-billion sector woven into the economic and social fabric of our country, and RC Show is where the industry comes together to shape what comes next,” said Kelly Higginson, President and CEO of Restaurants Canada.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford joined Restaurants Canada leaders for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on opening day, officially launching RC Show 2026 and recognizing the important role Canada’s foodservice sector plays in the province’s economy.

Returning to The International Centre in Mississauga, RC Show 2026 marked an exciting new chapter for Canada’s leading foodservice and hospitality event, expanding into a venue designed to accommodate the show’s growing scale. Spanning 548,000 square feet of flexible event space, including more than 500,000 square feet of single-level exhibit halls and a 48,000-square-foot conference centre, the venue offered ample room for exhibitors, programming and networking across the three-day event. Across five curated halls and more than 1,300 booths, exhibitors showcased products, services and solutions spanning food, beverage, equipment, technology and sustainability.

RC Show 2026 welcomed over 25,000 hospitality and foodservice professionals over three days alongside 160+ culinary leaders, presenters and hospitality changemakers,taking part in panels, keynote discussions and education sessions exploring the trends and ideas shaping the future of hospitality.

Programming took place across multiple stages, including the Speaker Stage, Culinary Stage, Bar and Beverage Stage, Pizza Stage, Coffee Stage and the Business Hub - ‘Explore and Grow’ Stages for Restaurants. Sessions addressed workforce development, labour needs, sustainability, profitability, artificial intelligence, supply chain pressures and consumer trends. The show opened with the RC Show 2026 opening ceremony and featured keynote presentations throughout the three days, including Independent Restaurants Day, Women in Hospitality Day and Tech and Innovation Day programming with a closing keynote delivered by Colonel Chris Hadfield.

The show’s keynote lineup reflected the Into the Beyond theme and the evolving priorities of the hospitality sector. , Indigenous hospitality advocate and founder of The Cornsilk Road, delivered the Bar and Beverage keynote, speaking on reconnection and building sustainable, responsible systems for the future, founder and CEO of Gusto 54 Restaurant Group, headlined Women in Hospitality Day with a keynote focused on scaling with creativity and fostering future-ready leadership. The show concluded with a keynote address from , Canadian astronaut and author, who spoke on leadership, adaptability and building resilient teams in times of rapid change, reminding attendees that “stuff always goes wrong—it’s up to you to find a way to celebrate the things that go right.”

Live culinary and beverage competitions were held throughout the event, including the Garland Canada Culinary Competition, Restaurants Canada Pizza Competition in traditional and creative categories, the NEW Great Burger Showdown, the Beyond the Rail Cocktail Competition, the John Bil Oyster Shucking Competition in professional and amateur divisions, and the three-day Canadian Latte Art Championship.

This year’s competition winners are listed below:

• Garland Canada Culinary Competition: 1st Place - Steven Che , 2nd Place - Raymond Mock, 3rd Place - Catherine Frenette
• Restaurants Canada Pizza Competition - Traditional: 1st Place - Paulo Guerra, 2nd Place - Rafael Quinana (Breakwall Brewing Company), 3rd Place - Jeremy Paone
• Restaurants Canada Pizza Competition - Creative: 1st Place - Johnny McEvoy, 2nd Place - Egan Meredith, 3rd Place - Kishanth Jeyakumar
• The Great Burger Showdown: 1st Place - Kemuel Lawrence-Hall (Galaxy Burger), 2nd Place - Gene Carpenter (Atomic Burger), 3rd Place - Kyle Stewart (The RouxBarb)
• Beyond the Rail Cocktail Competition: 1st Place - Samantha Anastasi (Bar Kensei and BarChef), 2nd Place - Brian Liew (Slice of Life and Compton Ave), 3rd Place - Hannah Kivlin (Spencer's at the Waterfront)
• John Bil Oyster Shucking Competition - Professional : 1st Place - Chris Manocchio (Rodney's Oyster House), 2nd Place - Juan Felipe Portillo (Rodney's Oyster House), 3rd Place - Anand Dosani (Diana's Markham)
• John Bil Oyster Shucking Competition - Amateur: 1st place - Tyler Hibberd (Elora Mill), 2nd Place - Jason Smyth (Heart of Niagara Hotels)
• Canadian Latte Art Championship: 1st Place - Arthur Chen, 2nd Place - Iris So, 3rd Place - Kai Lee

In addition to competitions and keynote programming, the show featured curated pop-up bar takeovers, business education sessions and networking events. Highlights included the Yes Shef tasting event, an electrifying celebration showcasing some of Ontario’s most exciting women chefs, bartenders and hospitality leaders, as well as the dish. Networking Reception, an exclusive gathering that brought together women across the hospitality industry to connect, share experiences and build community ahead of the Women in Hospitality Day keynote. The three-day event concluded with the RC Show Booth Awards, recognizing standout innovation and exhibitor excellence across the show floor, with the Embassy of Peru to Canada taking home Best Small Booth, Get Cracking earning Best Large Booth, NuBeverage winning Best Experience and Paradise Fields named Best New Exhibitor.

For more information, visit

Vancouver, B.C., March 12, 2026 – BAM BAM, by the team behind award-winning Nemesis, will officially arrive April 1, 2026 at 160 West Georgia Street, introducing a new all-day concept shaped by design, food, and the cultural moments that define North American nostalgia. The menu at BAM BAM is built around the food we all know and love. The classics. The kind of things you grew up eating and still crave today.

Fried chicken, donuts, rolls, sandwiches, coffee, cocktails. The staples reinterpreted through our POV.

“BAM BAM has this future nostalgic feeling,” says Jess Reno, founder and CEO, Nemesis, Dope Bakehouse, and BAM BAM. “It’s a love letter to the food and energy we all know and love.”

THE MENU

The curated menu is focused on familiar staples. Fried Chicken anchors the offering with sandwiches such as Classic Rosemary and Hot Sweet, alongside Popcorn Chicken served with house sauces like Smoked Gherkins and Cucumber Dill Ranch. For sweet treats, housemade donuts rotate daily, while house-baked pastry rolls include the OG, Honey Sea Salt, Garlic Knot, and Meyer Lemon.

Guests can also order signature combos, such as The Bam Bam, featuring a chicken sandwich, potato sticks, donut, and drink, as well as a The AM Classic available until noon featuring a breakfast sandwich, potato sticks, and drink.

The beverage program follows the same nostalgic focus with playful twists. Cocktails include Apple Pie & Rye, Strawberry Shiso Negroni, Pecan Pie Old Fashioned, and Hot Honey Margarita. Cafe-style drinks include Cherry Matcha, Apple Pie Latte, Strawberry Chocolate Milk, and a range of cream sodas including Cherry Cola, Lemon Meringue, and Apple Pie.

THE SPACE

Designed by McKinley Studios collaboratively with Reno & team, the 2,800-square-foot space seats 55 guests and draws inspiration from cultural North American moments, such as baseball clubhouses with warm wood, early hip-hop record shops layered with stacked speakers, and varsity iconography. To achieve this, the room is warm yet futuristic, combining cherry veneer, stainless steel counters, and chrome leather seating inspired by 1960s silhouettes. A central communal table with a green banquette sits beneath a sculptural chandelier by A-N-D Lighting, while custom artwork by artist Filipp Jenikae and a dedicated retail section further connect the space to fashion and culture.

THE RETAIL

BAM BAM’s debut collection, designed and developed by Kali Gill-Desjardins & Jess Reno, draws from vintage varsity culture and reimagined through a modern lens. The brand’s bulldog iconography is explored throughout. Each piece is thoughtfully cut and sewn using premium fabrics, reflecting the same level of intention and craftsmanship that defines the BAM BAM experience.

THE TEAM

The team includes VP of operations Albert Tang and long time Nemesis Gastown general manager Tim Tumbagahan, as well as Nemesis’s executive chef Mielye Mitchell, executive sous chef Lina Serrano, head chef Rachel Harms, Gabby Ablanida, and Dope Bakehouse executive pastry chef Kevin Lucas.

BAM BAM officially arrives April 1, 2026. From there, soft opening hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

Terrace, BC, March 11, 2026 – Ricky’s & Famoso is thrilled to announce the opening of its newest location in Terrace, BC, on March 19, 2026. This exciting new restaurant combines Ricky’s signature all-day breakfast and comforting classics with Famoso’s authentic Italian pizza, creating a one-of-a-kind dining experience for the community.

The restaurant is owned and operated by local franchisee Pawan Narula and his wife Meenakshi Sharma, longtime Terrace residents, who are proud to bring these two great brands to their hometown. 

“We are very excited to see Pawan begin this journey with us and bring the very best of Ricky’s and Famoso to this area” says Stacey Hansson, Senior VP at FDF Brandz, “We’re excited to see the team’s passion and enthusiasm shine through in the experience they create for every guest.”

Located within The Quality Inn Sunshine Suites, owned by local business owner Kim Tran, the restaurant provides a welcoming space where hotel guests, friends and families in the community can enjoy fresh house-made meals and warm hospitality.

Ricky’s & Famoso Terrace offers dine-in, take-out, and delivery. Guests can enjoy everything from Ricky’s Buttermilk Pancakes and Eggs Benedict to Roasted Turkey Dinner, Clubhouses, hand-battered Chicken Tenders, and Fish n Chips, alongside Famoso’s signature pizzas, pasta, salads, and Italian sandwiches, all made with high-quality fresh ingredients.

Come join us and discover the flavours of Ricky’s All Day Grill & Famoso Italian Pizzeria, seven days a week. There’s something for everyone to enjoy! For more information, call 778-634-3311.