CHICAGO, June 10, 2026 — The food-away-from-home business seldom has an opportunity to watch a purchasing system be built from scratch for a Top 50 chain. Even rarer is the opportunity to get the inside account from the celebrated expert who’s doing the building.
Participants in the Virtual Marketing & Sales conference will have an opportunity to do both when Steve Pattison details the purchasing co-operative he’s launching and managing for the 1,264-unit Denny’s chain. Pattison, who spent 20 years with Burger King’s Restaurant Services Inc. (RSI) supply-chain management operation, will explain why more franchised chains are shifting to purchasing cooperatives and why that move made sense for Denny’s in particular.
Among the topics he’ll cover is what the trend means for the supplier community and how food manufacturers can do business with Denny's new system, one of eight currently in operation. Collectively, the 13 chains they serve generated systemwide sales of more than $91 billion in 2024, according to the most recent Datassential 500 sales ranking.
In addition, Pattison will draw on his more than 30 years in the purchasing side of the business to share his thoughts on how he expects restaurant procurement to evolve as technology influences the purchasing process.
Pattison, who was named CEO of the new Denny’s co-op less than a month ago, will provide his insights in a virtual fireside chat with Peter Romeo, managing editor of IFMA The Food Away from Home Association.
Virtual Marketing & Sales, a conference specifically for the sales and marketing personnel of food-away-from-home manufacturers, is presented by the Association. The online-only event will be presented live on June 16-17. Registrants will have access to a recording of Pattison’s session as well as every conference session for 90 days.
Other topics to be covered during the two-day virtual conference include a how-to session on how manufacturers can capture more sales from independent restaurants, and how the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is affecting the business.
More information is available here.