Winter 2022 Newsletter

I entered the kitchen exhaust cleaning industry, a huge part of F.O.G. Management on a different path than most. My understanding of the KEC industry and F.O.G. prior to my involvement with Omni Containment Systems was limited to paying for the kitchen exhaust cleaning services in our restaurants.

It was this limited understanding that fueled my new relationships with Omni Containment and eventually IKECA (International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association), USFOGA, NFPA and many more. All I knew was that people came in the middle of the night, scraped and blasted grease out of my restaurant’s hoods, and I was presented with a cleaner exhaust system in return. The techs appeared to me, at that time, to only be hood cleaners that were overpaid to work at night.

Before joining the F.O.G. Services community, I never paid attention to what these workers did in my own or my clients’ restaurants. I often heard complaints about a lack of communication, messes left behind, but never any real praise for what F.O.G. workers did. The overwhelming sentiment was, and I think still is, that F.O.G. Management providers are simply grease cleaners.

The fact is that F.O.G. service providers are some of the most important people in the supply chain of safety and environmental protection in the world. The understanding that is required to clean a kitchen exhaust system, the knowledge of regulations, the level of detail and the individual sacrifice to ensure the job is done in a way that meets or exceeds client, regulatory, and individual expectations is beyond what most people can comprehend.

If you are reading this, your career is probably involved in the F.O.G. community, whether you are a F.O.G. service provider or AHJ, owner, or manager; someone that influences those spaces; or a client receiving services for your restaurant/commercial cooking operation(s). The reality is that every human is influenced by the work a F.O.G. services company provides. This is because we make food service and preparation facilities safer and our community’s groundwater safer every time we service a F.O.G. system.

It is understanding this influence that I hope to imprint on the minds of others. F.O.G. services firms deserve the same respect that any critical function in society does. The people of our communities deserve to have a high-level understanding of the food preparations facilities they visit and rely on, knowing that they are safer because of the F.O.G. services and regulations that support their safety.

It is easy to say that F.O.G. services work is full of unskilled labor and just another dirty job. In fact, we have counseled hundreds of clients in the F.O.G. industry who have hired people with this exact mindset. Owners of F.O.G. services firms often hire with the intention, “I’m just going to hire a body to put on a truck.” The individuals who are hired are then paid based on this mindset. The general hope is that they will obtain knowledge through osmosis from the other team members. This fails most of the time and causes the massive turnover we see within the F.O.G. industry.

It is time for the F.O.G. industry to be recognized for the influence we have. It is not enough for IKECA and USFOGA to know its influence and only reach the couple hundred members they have. There are thousands of dedicated and active F.O.G. service providers in the United States, with an additional many thousands of other companies providing services that heavily influence the review, design, installation, maintenance, and remediation of F.O.G. environments.

“The industry is ready to be seen and heard and our communities need to understand and accept the risks they take when restaurants and other food preparation facilities and jurisdictions ignore the seemingly simple regulations. Boiled down to their most basic, F.O.G. standards are set to keep restaurant and commercial environments clean and safe and ensure grease stays out of the groundwater system.”

The path to consistent industry-wide influence is education and inclusion of all individuals who influence the market as a whole. As an industry, we must speak to the entire market, not just a small subsection that makes us feel important and understood. The fact is we keep communities safe from the threat of fire and contamination. It’s time for our communities to understand the level of knowledge and attention needed to meet or exceed these expectations.

Brian Smith is the Founder and Managing Partner at IA Business Advisors the leading business advisory firm to the KEC Industry, IA supports clients across the United States and in 32 other countries. Brian is also the author of The “I” In Team Series who’s first two books; Individual Advantages, Find the “I” in Team and Individual Advantages, Be the “I” in Team have been read by more than 100,000 people worldwide. Brian has been a member of IKECA since 2010 and a member of USFOGA