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Main Contacts

Programming: Courtney Graham Sriha, Senior Director, Event Programming: Programs@ifmaworld.com

Media: For media: Kathleen Synma, Director of Communications, Marketing@ifmaworld.com

Social Media

Above are social media you can use to promote your presence at Gold & Silver Plate Awards! Be sure to use the official hashtag, #GSPAwards2025 and #StrongerTogether in your posts and tag our social media accounts, so we can share your posts with our followers! Follow us on LinkedIn!

Event Description

For over seven decades, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association has honored inspirational operators from across foodservice with our annual Gold & Silver Plate Awards. It is our continuing privilege to host the best of the best at the industry’s longest-standing celebration.

For the first time since the pandemic, the National Restaurant Association's Legends Award will return to the Gold and Silver Plate Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Saturday, May 17 in Chicago. The NRA Legends Award will honor an individual who has left an indelible and unique mark on the foodservice industry and on society. Read More >>

View List of Previous Winners | Gold & Silver Plate Society | Education Foundation

Ted Fowler’s extraordinary restaurant career garners 2025 Legends Award

Midway through the career that earned him this year’s prestigious Legends Award from the National Restaurant Association, Ted Fowler remarked to a gathering of fellow industry leaders that he felt like the turtle who finds itself perched atop a fence

Every now & then expect the unexpected: 71 years of Silver and Gold Plates

You might think that 71 years of practice makes for a perfectly executed award program. History tells us otherwise. Over the decades, the Gold and Silver Plate Award ceremonies have had their share of twists, surprises good and bad, and even

Only the very best win a Gold Plate Award. Here's why

Appreciating the rigors of the Silver and Gold Plate selection process is crucial to understanding why the honors remain the most prestigious in the food-away-from-home industry.

Winning a Silver Plate can be a family tradition. Here's proof

For an industry blasted as a dead-end career choice, the food-away-from-home business abounds with individuals who’ve followed their parents into the trade, knowing full well the life they’ve selected. Just look at how many successive generations hav

This is not your father’s Gold and Silver Plate event

Anyone who’s not attended the Gold and Silver Plate ceremony since the industry’s premier awards event was recast post-pandemic will likely be surprised by this year’s celebration on May 17.

The history of foodservice is told in the list of Gold Plate Award winners

If there were a Foodservice Hall of Fame, the exhibits not to miss would be ones honoring past winners of the Gold Plate Award, the Most Valuable Player designation of the food-away-from-home industry.

Toni Watkins

Moving the needle on healthcare foodservice quality from bland as cardboard to delicious and nutritious isn’t easy. But we know a remarkable operator who not only set out to do just that, but succeeded way beyond expectations.

Jessica Shelly

Her career path has focused on food safety and celebrating diverse dining traditions in an often-underestimated foodservice segment: elementary and secondary schools. Her efforts give the “scholars” she serves a heads’ up to getting ahead.

Mary Molt

There's a recognized manual for high-volume cooking that is used nationwide and has been maintained since the 1930s. The volume’s most recent author, and an extraordinary industry expert, is Dr. Mary Molt, who has kept “Food for Fifty” current for th

Van Eure

It wasn’t her original calling, but successfully running a massive restaurant beloved by the local community and celebrated by the national press became Van Eure’s lifelong passion. She’s still at it today.

Ruth Fertel

Just how did that restaurant name come to be? She was a struggling single mother that, without any prior industry experience, grew a failing business into a steakhouse juggernaut....with a quirky name. Ruth Fertel’s story has inspired many. Read her

Helen Corbitt

In recognition of Women’s History Month, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is looking back at six women whose pioneering work earned them the association’s coveted Gold Plate Award, an honor synonymous with foodservice operator of the year.

2025 Silver Plate Award Winners Announced

Announcing the winners of the 71st annual Silver Plate Awards, recognizing excellence across eight food-away-from-home categories. The Gold Plate winner will be revealed at the Gold & Silver Plate Awards Celebration on May 17, 2025, in Chicago.

2025 Gold & Silver Plate Celebration to include Legends Award

For the first time since the pandemic, the NRA Legends Award will return to the Gold and Silver Plate Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Saturday, May 17 in Chicago.

The 2024 IFMA Education Foundation Summit

Featuring top industry talent and six universities, the IFMA Education Foundation Summit provided valuable insights into career success, leadership, and industry trends.

Highlights of IFMA’s 2024 Gold & Silver Plate Weekend

Nearly 600 industry leaders gathered at Chicago’s Union Station to honor the foodservice industry’s best. The event featured inspiring mentors, the recognition of eight Silver Plate winners, and Chris Tomasso receiving the coveted Gold Plate Award.