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Five Star automates company cafeteriasChattanooga vending food distributor grows to one of the nation’s biggest players
Company at a glance
Company: Five Star Food ServiceAnnual sales: More than $100 millionFounded: 1993Major services: Vending machines, micro markets, office coffee and diningMajority owner: Navigation Capital Partners, an Atlanta equity firmNo. of customers: 5,700 in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and KentuckyStaff: More than 800 employeesAffiliation: Five Star is the largest franchisee of Canteen, a national franchisor or vending machines, office coffee servcie and dining services in 48 statesLocations: Headquarted in Chattanooga, Five Star Food Service prepares food at its culinary center in Lafayette, Ga., and operates 14 branchesCEO: Alan Recher, who was named Operator of the Year for 2015 by the National Automatic Merchandising Association
Since he took the helm of the Chattanooga-based Five Star Food Service in 2008, Alan Recher has nearly tripled company sales.
The CEO of the South’s biggest independent food vending distributor says he’s hungry to keep up that growth pace.
“We’d like to double again in the next five years,” said Recher, who was recently recognized as the “Operator of the Year” for the industry’s main trade association, the National Automatic Merchandising Association.
With more than 900 employees and 14 branch locations in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky, Five Star Food Service provides the breakfasts, lunches and snacks that power tens of thousands of workers at about 5,700 employers across the South.