Marketing

Restaurant Business is a finalist for 14 ASBPE awards

The publication is a finalist for nine national "Azbee Awards," including Website of the Year. It earned several recognitions for packages on addiction and the Top 500 chain restaurants, and is up for five more regional awards.
Azbee Awards
RB's coverage for the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is a finalist for two national Azbee Awards. / Illustration by Joel Kimmel.

Restaurant Business is up for 14 regional and national awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), led by in-depth projects on addiction among restaurant employees and its annual look at the 500 largest restaurants.

ASBPE announced the national and regional Azbee Awards finalists on Friday. Restaurant Business is a finalist for nine national Azbee Awards, given annually to the top journalism at business publications across the country. Restaurant Business is also a finalist for five additional Upper Midwest regional awards. 

The announcement came two days after Restaurant Business was named a finalist for 12 Jesse H. Neal Awards. The awards are among the most prestigious recognitions for business-to-business journalism.

“The Restaurant Business team puts together excellent work year after year,” said Abbey Lewis, VP of content strategy. “This group is absolutely dedicated to providing the finest journalism in the restaurant industry and these awards prove it.”

RestaurantBusinessOnline.com is up for overall excellence, Website of the Year.

The Top 500, RB’s annual look at the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, is also up for an overall excellence award, for multiplatform package of the year. It is also a finalist for online state of the industry.

Killer in the Kitchen, a package of stories examining the impact of substance abuse in the restaurant industry, is a finalist for three national Azbee awards: Web feature series, online single-topic coverage and online feature article design.

Senior Editor Patricia Cobe is a national Azbee finalist for an enterprise news story with her feature on sober bars. RB is also a national finalist for best social media campaign for its Top 100 Independents. RB is also up for Best Infographics.

“All of this work was just excellent,” said RB Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze. “This is a team of fantastic journalists and I’m just thrilled to be part of it.”

RB was also a regional finalist in the Upper Midwest in five additional categories:

An investigation of the ghost kitchen provider CloudKitchens by Senior Editor Joe Guszkowski is a regional finalist for investigative reporting;

“Ramen Wars,” a look at emerging ramen noodle concepts by Executive Editor Lisa Jennings, is a finalist for enterprise story;

A profile of Lakisha Hunter, who went from gang leader to proprietor of That Jerk Spot, by Editor-at-Large Peter Romeo, is a finalist for individual profile;

“Charlie Morrison’s big bet,” a profile of Salad & Go after it hired the former CEO of Wingstop, by Maze, is a finalist for company profile;

And coverage of California’s Fast Act is a finalist for online breaking news coverage.

CSP Daily News, which like RB is owned by Winsight LLC, is a finalist for six Azbee Awards.

Regional awards will be announced in April. National winners will be announced at the national ASBPE Conference on May 11.

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