FM's Top 50 Foodservice Management Companies—2009
Our annual definitive listing of the industry's major contract players, what this past year has held for them, and how they're coping with the business environment.
Compass Group North America, Aramark Corp., Sodexo, Inc.
1 Compass Group North America
CHARLOTTE, NC
www.cgnad.com
| SALES VOL. | 2008: $9,000 |
| 2007: $8,200 | |
| CONTRACTS | 2008: 9,110 |
| 2007: 8,121 | |
| SEGMENTS SERVED: B&I (30%), Healthcare (24%), Education (20%), Recreation (13%), Vending/OCS (10%), Other (3%) | |
Compass North America is a division of London-based Compass Group PLC, the world's largest contract catering company. It accounted for 40% of the parent company's revenues in fiscal 2008, and 44.5% in the first half of fiscal 2009. In the field, Compass operates through the brand names of its various operating companies, all previously independent firms that have been acquired since Compass entered the U.S. market in 1994.
Notable contract wins over the past year include St. Louis, Carrol County (VA) and Duval County (FL) schools and UNC-Greensboro by Chartwells; Palace Sports & Entertainment, the United Center arena in Chicago and the Washington Nationals Major League ballpark by Levy Restaurants; and the new US Capitol Visitor Center by Restaurant Associates.
The major addition to the management ranks was the appointment of Dennis Hogan, formerly the group's SVP of finance, to CEO of the Canteen Vending Services unit, replacing Mike Kiser. On the acquisition front, the only major deal was the purchase of KIMCO Corp., an Illinois-based provider of support services primarily to the B&I segment.
Sustainability continues to be a major area of emphasis for Compass, highlighted over the past year by its announcement that its three-year-old sustainable seafood purchasing initiative has resulted in a decrease of 1.5 million pounds of unsustainable seafood from its purchasing invoices this year.
On the corporate business side, Compass inked a series of deals with MasterCard, Visa, Agilysys and Nutricate to advance the company's abilities and offerings at the point-of-sale, including enhanced loyalty, cashless and nutritional information services.
Other highlights: the Morrison unit cemented an alliance with celebrity chef Cary Neff to develop Flavors 450, a series of more than 60 healthful recipes specifically designed for the healthcare retail environment. The Restaurant Associates unit made a similar deal with noted restaurateur Ed Brown (Tropica, The Sea Grill, Eighty One) to enhance its fine dining operations.
Compass also signed partnership deals with several notable restaurant brands to bring their concepts to its venues. These included organic pizza concept Pizza Fusion and Zoup!, which subsequently opened its first college campus location at Oakland University, where dining in managed by Chartwells.
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2 Aramark Corp.
PHILADELPHIA
www.aramark.com
| SALES VOL. | 2008: $8,925 |
| 2007: $8,430 | |
| CONTRACTS | 2008: 3,385 |
| 2007: 3,409 | |
| SEGMENTS SERVED(e): B&I (29%), Sports/Entertainment (20%), College/University (20%), Healthcare (17%), Corrections (5%), Vending/OCS (5%), K-12 (4%) | |
The sales volume shown is for Aramark's domestic Food & Support Services business for fiscal year 2008. It includes revenues from both foodservice and the many non-food-related support services the company offers. The international Food & Support Services unit generated an additional $2.783 billion while the Uniforms unit added $1.762 billion.
Domestically, Aramark services 1,315 B&I locations, 500 correctional facilities, 486 colleges, 400 school districts, 369 healthcare facilities, 250 recreation/convention sites, 50 conference centers and 15 university stadiums.
In June, Aramark consolidated its North American Food & Support Services unit and its International unit into a single new Global Food, Hospitality and Facility Services Group headed by current North America Food & Support Services President Andrew Kerin as group president. Aramark International President Ravi Saligram adds the title of Chief Globalization Officer.
Operationally, Aramark announced several major initiatives over the past year. Most prominent is Cool*Caf, a new elementary school dining environment emphasizing nutritious menus, faster service lines and a fruit/vegetable bar. Piloted at 60 schools last spring, it will begin wider rollout this fall.
For the college market, the company announced an enhanced campus convenience store concept called Provisions on Demand, designed to meet the needs of students looking for fresh, healthy and convenient grab-and-go-dining options. Other highlights in the higher education area include partnerships with health/lifestyle author Anne Fletcher to promote healthy weight management on campuses and with Clean Air Cool Planet to quantify carbon usage and educate students on how to make responsible food choices. Also in the health front, the Sports/Recreation unit opened a gluten-free concenssion stand at Coors Field in Denver.
Major contract wins over the past year include the Scranton (PA) School district; the Mason Inn on the campus of George Mason University; Asilomar State Beach & Conference Grounds; Kauffman Stadium, home ballpark of MLB's Kansas City Royals; the event management firm Live Nation to co-manage food and beverage concessions at 34 of Live Nation's North American amphitheaters; and an expanded deal with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles to include premium dining at the team's Lincoln Financial Field home stadium.
In the last year, Aramark Refreshment Services acquired Brand Coffee Service Inc., which provides coffee and refreshment services to nearly 3,000 clients throughout Texas.
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3 Sodexo, Inc.
GAITHERSBURG, MD
www.sodexousa.com
| SALES VOL. | 2008: $7,700 |
| 2007: $7,300 | |
| CONTRACTS | 2008: 6,000 |
| 2007: 6,000 | |
| SEGMENTS SERVED(e): B&I (35%), Healthcare (24%), College/University (18%), K-12 (5%), Other (18%) | |
Sodexo, Inc., is the North American division of Paris-based Sodexo, a company with global operations at some 30,600 sites in 80 countries worldwide.
Among major business initiatives Sodexo has launched in the past year the Esteem Pass gift card program, the first North American offering of the global company's Service Vouchers and Card unit. The cards, redeemable at over 20,000 brand name retail outlets, can be used for recognizing, rewarding and motivating employees, clients and customers.
Also new is an agreement with GetFit Technologies Ltd to add its virtual exercise management solution to Sodexo's ToLive wellness program, and a partnership with healthcare call center operator Beryl Companies to get better and quicker feedback from recently discharged patients at the hospitals where Sodexo operates.
Sodexo last year enhanced its brand mix through an alliance with frozen yogurt concept Red Mango and the rollout through its Retail Brands Group of a new burger concept, The Original Burger Co. Meanwhile, a partnership with celebrity chefs Mai Pham and Roberto Santibańez is bringing a special menu series of Thai, Vietnamese and Mexican specialties to Sodexo's 600 college dining sites this year.
New contracts include a deal with Patheon for six plants worldwide, as well as with John Hopkins University, Southern Oregon University, Okaloosa County (FL) School District, Columbus (OH) City Schools, The University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) of Oak Brook, IL, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Blue Cross & Blue Shield and five Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co., Ltd. sites. The company also opened a restaurant called Nourish Café at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.
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