Following in the footsteps of the wildly popular cash-for-clunkers and recycle-your-ride programs in both Canada and the United States, Rational is stepping in with a program of their own, designed to convince chefs and restaurant owners to upgrade their  kitchen equipment.

"In this challenging economy many operators are continuing to use outdated, inefficient or space-hogging equipment to avoid the costs of an upgrade and they're being forced to forego the kind of investment that can help their business grow and thrive," said Vinod Jotwani, director of marketing, Rational U.S.A. and Canada. "We started the Cash-for-Trash program to make the advanced SelfCooking Center technology more accessible for operations that want to grow or are in need of an equipment makeover."

CHICAGO — Earlier this week, the 2010 Kitchen Innovations (KI) Award winners were announced by the National Restaurant Association (NRA). Each year, KI winners are selected by an independent panel of experts, recognizing new and groundbreaking equipment on the worldwide foodservice market.

“Each panel member has the hands-on experience to recognize true innovation, which is what makes our KI program so exciting,” said Ira Cohn, convention chair for NRA Show 2010 and president of Aramark Business and Industry Group. “These products will make restaurants run faster, smoother and more efficiently, which will result in better customer service and higher quality food.”

All the KI award-winning products will be showcased in an interactive demonstration area at the 2010 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at Chicago’s McCormick Place, from May 22 to 25. For more information, visit the Show website here.

TORONTO  – WWRD Canada, Inc. has become the exclusive Canadian distributor of buffet, induction and cookware products for professional chefs produced by Naperville, Ill.-based Spring U.S.A.

Tony Volpe, senior vice-president of WWRD’s North America Hospitality Division, said: “We are excited to be adding another proven superior quality product to the Waterford Wedgewood Royal Doulton range.”

Rational recently reached a milestone with the production and sale of its 400,000th commercial cooking unit. The SelfCooking Center was presented to Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas, where 22 of the units are used in the hotel’s 19 kitchens. The sprawling resort serves more than 26,000 meals daily, with the majority of the food — ranging from turkey to prime rib and, more recently, pastry — produced in the SelfCooking Centers. “The production and placement of the 400,000th unit is a milestone for both Rational and the foodservice industry, proving the importance of the cooking technology Rational pioneered with the first combi-steamer in 1976,” said Vinod Jotwani, director of Marketing for Rational USA and Rational Canada.