Three years after starting Sodexho as a defensive play, Bellon realized he was on to something big.
Fishman had his eye on the French market, and offered to buy tiny Sodexho.
The food-service business is all about service, not just food, and Sodexho knows how to deliver it.
In 1995 Sodexho acquired Gardner Merchant, a caterer in the U.K., and in 2001 bagged Marriott Management Services.
In each country, Sodexho garnered for itself the No. 1 or No. 2 position, running neck-and-neck with the U.K.-based Compass Group.
Sodexho established a beachhead in 1985 with the purchase of a food-service provider.
Not quite half of Sodexho's revenues come from SMS, based in Gaithersburg, Md.
"There is a lack of decent-size acquisition opportunities in catering--Compass and Sodexho have mopped up most of them, " says Bevan.
In each country, Sodexho garnered for itself the number one or number two position, running neck-and-neck with U.K.-based Compass Group.
On January 13th Sodexho Alliance, a catering firm, said that it might sue Citigroup over the bank's coverage of its stock.
The six teams in the GSA can exert considerable pressure on concessionaires like Sodexho and Aramark, that will yield immediate results.
Nearly half of Sodexho's revenues come from SMS, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Sodexho now operates in 72 countries and employs more than 300, 000 people.
But its global rivals for this outsourcing business, the U.K.'s Compass Group and France's Sodexho Alliance, each have at least 40% more sales.
Founded as a ship supply company in Marseille in 1895, Sodexho shifted to food service in 1966 with a single corporate dining room.
In March 1998, it merged that operation with Sodexho North America to create SMS, which got the right to use the Marriott name until March 2002.
Aramark's return on assets is even more favorable: In its latest fiscal year it was 5.5%, compared with 2.8% for Compass and 1.8% for Sodexho.
Sodexho's roots go back to the old Mediterranean port of Marseille.
To get that growth, Landel is drawing on Sodexho's overseas experience.
Sodexho's roots go back to the old Mediterranean port of Marseilles.
In March 1998, it merged that operation with Sodexho North America to create SMS, which gets the right to use the Marriott name until March 2002.
The only way for Sodexho to grow, Bellon thought, was to plant the company flag as fast as possible in countries where U.S. companies hadn't yet set foot.
The prison is run by Sodexho Justice Service, who said at the time of the original report that improved salaries would lead to a drop in staff turnover.
Landel, then general manager for eastern Africa at Sodexho Alliance, hopped on a plane to Nairobi, where he loaded up on a week's supply of frozen meat and fish.
Compass, the world's largest catering company, is No. 1 in the food-service business in the U.K., Germany and Spain, and Sodexho has the top spot in France and Scandinavia.
Like Compass and Sodexho, Aramark has tried to partner with local operators in the hope of eventually buying the company (as Aramark did last August with its Korean affiliate, Arakor).
Like most gains in the sector, these are new outsourcing clients, rather than coming out of the hides of big rivals Compass Group, which is also doing well, and Sodexho Alliance.
Call it savoir faire or call it hustle, Landel's brand of attention to the customer's needs has made Paris-based Sodexho the world's largest provider of food services to corporate cafeterias, school canteens and hospital rooms.
Along those lines, last year the National Business Group on Health and food service facilities and management provider Sodexho U.S.A. launched a toolkit to help employers create healthier eating environments and provide nutritious, affordable choices.
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