GRAND RAPIDS — Jessica Stricklen plans to open the first gluten-free microbrewery in the state of Michigan in Grand Rapids’ Roosevelt Park neighborhood.  

GRAND RAPIDS — 86 Repairs Inc., a company based in both Grand Rapids and Chicago that partners with restaurants to provide end-to-end repairs and maintenance for kitchen equipment, recently closed a $2 million round of seed funding.

BYRON CENTER — Food distributor and grocery store retailer SpartanNash Co. recently announced its new chief financial officer who will take over the post on Monday.

Jeff Lobdell’s portfolio of restaurants took a nearly 40-percent hit to its top line revenue during a COVID-19 pandemic-rattled 2020 that took a hefty toll on the hospitality industry.

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission took measures this week to streamline the ordering process for its 14,000 liquor licensees across the state.

BYRON CENTER — The latest earnings report from SpartanNash Co. reflects a surge in demand for food distribution and retail throughout 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed restaurants to adapt and innovate in order to survive. As the architects of the restaurant industry, chefs across West Michigan have tested various experiments to stay afloat during the pandemic and beyond. 

GRAND RAPIDS — GRNoir Wine and Jazz owners Shatawn and Nadia Brigham welcomed the first dine-in customers to their new Grand Rapids club Monday after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an industry that bounced back relatively quickly after the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture in Michigan and across the U.S. faces key issues that will shape its fate in 2021, experts say.

GRAND RAPIDS — Gage Cannabis Co. plans to open a medical cannabis dispensary in Grand Rapids later this week, marking its sixth retail store in Michigan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not doused Justin Buiter’s optimism in his future plans for his brewery. However, when Buiter looks ahead, he said 2021 will likely be spent regaining the footing his company lost during a gauntlet of a year.

Dr. Scott Nykaza always considered his company to be both environmentally and socially responsible through its 60-year history. Now it has a credible stamp of approval to back up those claims.

Consumers relied on grocery stores and supermarkets like never before during the pandemic. As the state transitioned through various stages of shutdowns, these businesses had to keep their shelves stocked amid challenges like panic buying and stockpiling. Tony Sarsam took over as CEO at SpartanNash Co. in September as the industry was six months into the new dynamic. The former CEO of Texas-based Borden Dairy Co. shares his views on the challenges that await his company with 155 corporate-owned retail stores and a distribution business that delivers to 2,100 independent locations.

With already thin profit margins, dine-in restaurants have faced the brunt of COVID-19 restrictions in Michigan, and many won’t emerge on the other side. Some owners — including Jeff Lobdell, president of Restaurant Partners Management Inc. — feel their businesses have been unfairly targeted as state officials sought to stem the surge of cases over the past month. Lobdell owns restaurants across the state, including several in the Grand Rapids area like Bagel Beanery, Sundance Grill & Bar, Beltline Bar, The Omelette Shoppe, Rockwell Republic and Noble Restaurant. Lobdell started the year operating 20 restaurants, nearly half of which have closed at least temporarily.

If patronage of local Christmas tree lots and farms is any indication, then Michigan residents are really in the holiday spirit this year.

DUTTON — Opening a business in arguably the hardest hit industry of the COVID-19 pandemic era doesn’t seem like a promising concept on paper, but Justin Buiter and his team at Railtown Brewing Co. are leveraging special circumstances to do exactly that.

GRAND RAPIDS — Chicago-based Factorial Holdings plans to construct 10 new Burger King restaurants in Grand Rapids over the next five years.

GRAND RAPIDS — Black Calder Brewing Co. is launching its first beer on Nov. 27, or “The Blackest Friday,” as the new brewery’s owners are calling it.

The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and two hospitality businesses filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the head of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in response to new business restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19.

GRAND RAPIDS — Grand Valley State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP) has partnered with the nonprofit New City Neighbors to expand the Grand Rapids organization’s educational farm.

Restaurant owners have had to get creative and at times take extreme cost-cutting measures to keep their doors open this year, indicating the COVID-19 pandemic’s long-term effects for the industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many households to bear down in their homes over the last eight months, leading to an uptick in grocery store sales. In fact, many grocery stores struggled to keep shelves stocked with the panicked buying that took place in the pandemic’s early stages. Grand Rapids-based SpartanNash Co. — the fifth largest food distributor in the U.S. — was on the front lines of those efforts with its 155 corporate-owned retail stores and distribution business that delivers to 2,100 independent locations across the country. It’s also a leading distributor of grocery products to U.S. military commissaries. 

Restaurant owners are seeking clarification from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on last week’s revised emergency order requiring bars and restaurants to gather names and contact information from patrons. 

GRAND RAPIDS — The operators of Max’s South Seas Hideaway — a downtown Grand Rapids tiki bar owned by former BarFly Ventures LLC President Mark Sellers III — have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

GRAND RAPIDS — BarFly Ventures LLC — the parent company of HopCat, Stella’s Lounge and Grand Rapids Brewing Co. — has sold its assets as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

PENINSULA TOWNSHIP — A group of Northern Michigan wineries and a trade group representing them have filed a federal lawsuit against Peninsula Township alleging that their businesses are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars per year because of the municipality’s allegedly unconstitutional ordinances.

A West Michigan food processing research center and incubator is among beneficiaries of federal grant funding to bolster small businesses in West and Southwest Michigan.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit alleging that a local egg producer created a hostile work environment for a former female employee and then retaliated against her when she filed a complaint about her treatment.

Under the guidance of Executive Director Marty Gerencer, the West Michigan Food Processing Association incorporated as a 501(c)(6) in February with a multi-pronged approach to support the food industry across a five-county region.

GRAND RAPIDS — Despite the uncertainty that has accompanied 2020, Grand Rapids-based franchise operator Meritage Hospitality Group Inc. reported an increase in sales for both the third quarter and the nine months that ended Sept. 27.

Dozens of Michigan farms and food processors have been awarded $15 million in COVID-19 relief grants to create safer work conditions for employees and protect the food industry as a whole, state officials announced Wednesday.

CASCADE TOWNSHIP — Hamburger Mary’s is set to open its first Michigan location later this month near Grand Rapids, bringing with it the karaoke, drag shows and drag queen bingo the restaurant franchise is known for.