Robert A. Cantor will be missed across the wider foodservice industry, which will mourn the loss of a much-loved professional.
Cantor began his career with the family firm aged 16, taking on a summer job, and eventually worked his way through many departments: Assembly, painting, testing, and technical support.
After graduating from the prestigious School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University where he studied accounting, management, and hospitality, he was commissioned as a military officer and served at Fort Huachuca in southeastern Arizona. With his wife, Joyce, he moved to Sierra Vista where they lived in a trailer and Cantor managed the Officer’s Club and foodservice operations on base.
On completion of his military service, the couple returned to Philadelphia where Cantor completed an MBA in business management and joined Hyatt Hotels International in Chicago where he accepted a job as Vice President of Business Development.
Tasked with conducting due diligence for prospective sites across the world, he travelled widely during his five years with Hyatt.
Rejoining the family business
In 1978, his father Leonard called and offered him a job to manage the family business, Insinger. He accepted the opportunity and rejoined Insinger as the Vice President of Sales.
During this time, Cantor worked tirelessly with independent sales reps, authorised dealers and the FCSI community to grow non-commercial sales and enhance existing military relationships. He devoted himself to growing commercial sales and developing new products for the foodservice equipment market, selling tray washers and rack-conveyor dishwashers to clients, ranging from correctional facilities to regional restaurant chains.
True leadership
Almost 20 years after rejoining the business, in 1996 Leonard Cantor retired and sold his shares to Robert who became Chief Executive Officer. In this new role he focused on the development of new distribution channels and digital technologies, including AutoCAD and digital catalogs, embracing change with enthusiasm.
He became an advocate for the next generation, welcoming fresh ideas from new personnel and with an understanding that people – not products – were key to Insinger’s continued success.
During a painful time when fire destroyed part of the business and, shortly after, the passing of his father, Cantor demonstrated true leadership and made sure that employees were back to work and customers received their orders after just one day of lost productivity.
Later in life, in 2014, facing continuing health complications related to Parkinson’s Disease, Cantor became chairman and passed the torch of leading the business to his son Ari who became President.
Passion, charm and energy
Robert A. Cantor will be remembered for his smile, his generosity, his commitment, his foresight, his salesmanship, his dapper appearance, his engagement, his wit, his charming demeanor, his creativity, his passion, his energy, his warmth, his formality, and his love of the foodservice equipment industry — and its deep professional network.
Insinger thanks the FCSI and foodservice equipment dealer communities for their overwhelming expressions of sympathy during their time of loss.
Donations can be made in his memory to The Parkinson’s Foundation or The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
May his life and legacy be an inspiration to all.
