Five Star Food Service

For almost a century now, celestial symbolism has served to suggest both significance and quality in a variety of endeavors, regardless of whether it is a restaurant or hotel, all realize that the more stars affixed to a rating or ranking, the better it is. Five stars are even used to tout the top in college football recruits or the most senior ranks in military regalia.  Yet, when it comes to those who command in the field of food services, there is an enterprise based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that’s not only worthy of five stars, but is actually known by it. In the case of this Five Star business formula, the services here are helping companies create a happier and healthier environment for their employees.

 

Within the core of almost any business operation, beyond the staples and stationary or paperclips, pens and minutia of other products, there are a few other fundamentals that help employees fulfill their jobs. These come in the form of that coffee brewing in the break room, or say, the granola bar and chocolate bar retrieved from a vending machine for that much needed afternoon pick-me-up. Let’s face it, not everyone brown bags it at work, nor is it convenient to simply leave the office or plant to run down to a convenience store for a drink or snack every time the moment-of-need arises. For employers who provide access to these goods for their staffs, it is seen not only as a beneficial and necessary aspect of business operations, but purposeful to the maintaining of productivity. For more than twenty years, a Tennessee-based enterprise known as Five Star Food Service has been the go-to provider of convenient  and quality-driven solutions in vending, coffee, micro-market and dining-related services for companies throughout the southeastern United States. Within an industry that has been largely unorganized and comprised by small firms serving only very localized areas, Five Star has focused on acquisitions that have resulted in increasing customer density in its more than 300 service routes throughout Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Five Star has not only emerged as one of the most dynamic and dominant forces in its field of endeavor, but has also become a pioneering trendsetter whose practices are now elevating workspace environments by providing new edible options for employees.

Major Player in Micro Market

Companies are increasingly rethinking the approach to conventional vending services thanks to Five Star’s development of micro markets. Referring to these as “the evolution of the vending industry,” Five Star Vice President of Sales Greg McCall explains that micro-markets enable employees to have more healthy food choices that vending machines can’t typically accommodate. From salads and fresh fruit to turkey wraps and yogurt, Five Star’s micro market not only provide more choices, but also better dietary choices which particularly resonates with companies coping with increases in health insurance premiums. McCall says the micro markets can be implemented in either a blue collar or white collar work environment that employs anywhere from 150 to 2000 people. Companies typically provide a secure location within their operational base (an area to which the general public does not have access) such as a centralized break room. With as little as 33 feet of wall space, the market will allow for three beverage coolers, an eight-foot snack rack, coffee bar and another small cooler stocked with food items. Five Star will customize the market layout, making it smaller or larger in accordance with the company’s needs. Market inventory can also be customized. The market is unmanned and works on an honor system. Upon selecting the drink or food, an electronic kiosk helps process the transaction, but the technology also with inventory accounting, sending data as to what has been purchased to a Five Star representative who routinely restocks appropriate merchandise.

For the company, there is no cost associated with designing and building the market space, nor is there a cost to maintain it – all is provided for by Five Star. Since advancing the micro market concept, Five Star has seen a significant increase in its sales totals, but the companies which comprise its customer base are also reporting significant increases. McCall says many companies report that after the micro market has been installed, their employees are so appreciative as to become more engaged and more productive at work. “We typically sell to the human resources department because they see this as an important employee benefit,” says McCall. “Employees win because they not only have more food and drink items to choose from, but healthier options which can be accessed from work as opposed to a store or diner somewhere down the road. Employers win because their staff is happy, healthier and more engaged. And we win because we see increases in sales. Few things in business result in a win-win-win, but that’s what we’ve developed with the micro markets concept.”

 Five Star Chief Executive Officer Alan Recher explains, “From the inception, we had this vision of what we wanted the markets to look like and feel like. We wanted to build a destination in the workplace, and while the convenience of vending is nice to have, we’ve found the transactions through a micro market are three times faster than vending allows.”  In pioneering the concept, Recher says many analysts were skeptical that it would work, but Five Star has proven them wrong. Recher says companies which have converted to the micro market system have never asked to go back to conventional vending platforms. As to whether anyone abuses the honor system accommodated by the market, Recher reports that shrinkage totals range from zero to less than two percent.

Coffee & Cafeterias

Five Star Food Services has additionally established 40 dining facilities among companies throughout the southeast. These typically require some measure of investment from the company but in order for it to be profitable; Five Star generally prefers to work with firms which employ at least 1,000 people. During the recession, a number of companies ceased their cafeteria operations, but Five Star has helped restore the service. As Recher says, “Companies found it difficult to maintain a cafeteria, but they didn’t want to take away this employee benefit.” Through its cafeteria and micro grill concepts, Five Star can step-in with its own personnel who cook-up hot breakfast and lunch, which again includes options for customizing the menu in accordance with what the company wants. “We’re able to supply these services more efficiently and more conveniently than companies can on their own,” notes Recher. He adds that these dining destinations as well as the micro markets have since become more than a mere resource for appeasing appetites, but very much something involved in bragging rights.

“We were recently working with a two large manufacturers who compete against each other. One went to see the market we had built at their competitor’s location… they came back and told us, ‘We want ours to be bigger and better.’” For some, the markets or cafeteria option ultimately connote to company cachet.

On the coffee side of operations, McCall explains that Five Star had previously only “dabbled” in these services, but increasingly realized that its customers were buying coffee from other suppliers. By creating a dedicated sales unit and focusing on the delivery of a range of coffee solutions, Five Star has realized a 25 percent increase in coffee sales for three consecutive years. From single cup offerings such as Keurig to larger brew services, as well as the flavoring choices which include products of Starbucks to its own private-label coffee, Five Star has become a leader in the cost-effective and convenient supply of coffee products.  “We’re really able to go any customer now and address any need they have at whatever price point they’re willing to pay based on whatever budget they have,” says McCall. “We offer a nice menu approach and we’re able to acquire any kind of equipment or equipment platform which gives us a great deal of flexibility over another coffee provider which only wants to supply their own product line.”

 

On the Go and Growing

While numerous companies were downsizing during the recession, Five Star Food Services was rapidly growing. In recent years, it has acquired more than a dozen other vending and foodservice firms. CEO Recher says Five Star will continue to focus on acquisitions that will add to the customer density along its established service routes throughout the southeast. At the same time, Recher says the company will look to grow opportunities throughout the rest of the nation too.

“We are confident that we can expand nationally because our business model can be adapted for anywhere. We’re continuing to look at acquisitions that will help us expand our territory and there’s really no one who is able to do everything we do, as cost-effectively and conveniently as we can do it, so we’re preparing to take the company to the next level,” says Recher.

McCall notes that there are only some 2,500 micro markets which exist nationally, but analysts are predicting as many as 3,500 to 6,000 markets will emerge over the next few years. By focusing on quality and quantity in product selections, customized solutions that cater to the needs and expectations of its customers, and the concerted efforts of dedicated sales units driven to expand the respective vending, coffee, micro market and cafeteria services accommodated by Five Star, McCall says the company is positioned for yet even more growth.

“The strength and talent of our employees, our operational efficiency and our approach to flawless customer service has all helped us get where we are, and will help us grow too,” says McCall. “As we find new opportunities to grow our business, we’re able to handle because we’ve put the infrastructure and the people in place to properly execute the service. There are always lots of opportunities in the market, but for a company to take that opportunity and correctly execute the service is something very few can do as capably as we do.”

For further information, please visit their website at:   Five Star Food Services

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• Mondelez