2012 Contract Census Report

The 38 companies in our survey manage 22,911 accounts in various markets. The largest number of contracted accounts among the core non-commercial markets was B&I, with 7,362, followed by schools, 4,368; hospitals, 3,702; colleges, 3,223; and long-term care, 1,262.

Revenue increased in 2011 versus 2010 for these companies by an average of 6.7%. Tier 3 companies—those with revenue less than $100 million—saw slower growth, 4.5%, than those companies with higher revenues.

Among the top three contractors, Compass Group saw the largest increase in revenue, with 11.1%, compared to Aramark’s 4.8% and Sodexo’s 3%. The Tier 1 companies saw the largest shift in revenues, increasing from a -0.4% revenue change in 2010 versus 2009 to a 6.8% revenue change in 2011 versus 2010.

The three companies that registered the largest percentage revenue growth in 2011 versus 2010 were Trusthouse Services Corp., Cura Hospitality and Unidine Corp. Trusthouse saw a 62.8% revenue increase, in large part due to acquiring Minnesota-based A’viands Food & Service Management. Cura’s 34.9% revenue growth is attributable to a 100% client retention from 2010 and adding two regional hospital and two large long-term care accounts with higher volumes. Unidine’s 23.3% growth came even though the company had only two more accounts in 2011 than it did in 2010. The company shed some of its smaller accounts, mostly in B&I, and added healthcare accounts, which tend to be larger, making the per-facility revenue higher than in 2010.