IFMA The Food Away from Home Association Partners with Kindland to Serve Kindness Across the Foodservice Industry
New partnership invites food manufacturers, operators, suppliers and service providers to make kindness a visible part of the food-away-from-home experience
CLEVELAND, October 21, 2026--IFMA The Food Away from Home Association and the national nonprofit Kindland announced today that they are partnering to inspire more kindness throughout the national foodservice industry and its communities.
Americans spend more than $1 trillion each year dining out and purchasing food away from home. In restaurants, cafés, convenience stores, schools, hospitals and other establishments, the foodservice industry has always been built not only on food and service, but on people and kindness. The new partnership will promote, foster and support that spirit on an organized, sustained basis.
Kindland is a national movement that brings together businesses, organizations, schools, communities and individuals to recognize, share and inspire acts of kindness. By making kindness more visible, Kindland seeks to create a ripple effect of positivity, connection and goodwill in a United States of Kindness.
"IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is pleased to be part of this national kindness movement," said Phil Kafarakis, the Association's President and CEO. "Kindland's mission dovetails with our own purpose to empower, nurture and connect our ecosystem of manufacturers, operators, supply chain partners and service providers."
Through the new partnership, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is encouraging its members to participate in Kindland's Kindness is Served Here program, an initiative designed to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary acts of kindness taking place every day throughout the food industry. Participating organizations can sign up to receive free materials and resources, including a "Kindness Is Served Here" door cling that businesses and establishments can proudly display to let employees, customers and visitors know that kindness is one of their core values.
"Food and kindness have always gone hand in hand," said Stuart Muszynski, CEO of the Values-in-Action Foundation (VIA), the national non-profit that presents Kindland. "Every step of the food experience creates an opportunity for human connection, from the person stocking a shelf or preparing a meal to the employee who greets a customer with a smile and thanks them for stopping in. Customers return that kindness by showing patience, gratitude, understanding and respect. These may seem like small moments, but together they can have an extraordinary impact."