5 Management Companies to Watch: Metz Culinary Management

John Lawn and Michael Buzalka

Consistent organic growth has been hard to come by given the economic environment of recent years. In terms of percentages, few companies can argue they’ve done better than Dallas, PA-based Metz Culinary Management (formerly, Metz & Associates).

With FY 2010 revenues of $108 million, the company grew 11 percent in the last year and more than 60 percent since 2006, an enviable track record achieved almost exclusively by organic growth.

It also has retained its balanced “broad segment” positioning, servicing
accounts across the major noncommercial segments.

President/CEO Jeff Metz attributes the company’s strength in significant part to its account retention and says the company’s re-branding underscores the increased emphasis it has placed on culinary and hospitality services in recent years. “It’s helped us better represent the company we’ve become to customers and to employees,” he adds.

His own background—for more than a decade he oversaw the TGI Fridays/Krispy Kreme franchise businesses that are operated by Metz Restaurant Management, a separate business whose volumes are not included here—has helped. “Creating the kinds of social, casual dining environments people look for today is very important. You need that restaurant mindset on the noncommercial side,” he says.

“We continue to operate many traditional cafeteria operations,”
he says, “but we have sought to enhance them to let people see the food being prepared, the fresh ingredients we use, and to cultivate service models that let customers enjoy the sounds and smells of food being prepared for them.”

Metz’ traditional territory—Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and New Jersey—remains its stronghold, but it now manages some satellite operations of key accounts located as far away as Florida, Kentucky and Vermont.

Metz declines to predict how large the company will be in five years, saying its growth depends on opportunities with accounts where it can operate profitably and with the long term relationships it seeks to cultivate.

“I do see us having a larger presence in colleges and universities, in healthcare and in independent schools,” he says. “We are looking to develop more critical mass in New England and I think that over time we may be able to grow our presence in the southeast.”