Meet the 2023 Top 50 top risers

As the country began returning to normal over the past year following the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the contract management industry not only followed along but seems to have jumped ahead, as the 2023 FM Top 50 is replete with firms posting major revenue gains from 2021, including three that more than doubled—and in one case tripled—its year-to-year numbers.

The growth seems to be especially top-heavy, with three of the top five 2023 Top 50 firms being among the largest gainers, including the top two—Compass Group and Aramark—while the third and fourth firms on the Top 50 list, Sodexo and Delaware North, also realized impressive increases of 24% and 36%, respectively.

Two of the top risers—HMSHost and SSP America—benefitted from the general resumption of travel as both concentrate their business to providing foodservice amenities in airports, an industry devastated by the COVID shutdowns in 2020 and early 2021 and recovering impressively over the past year. However, the major revenue gains made by the “Big Three” broad market contract firms indicates both a general recovery in the onsite dining world overall, as these companies collectively command a substantial share of the market, and a possible coalescing of contract business around the Big Three, given that they collectively grew more than the rest of the list with a couple of exceptions.

Here’s a closer look at each of the Top 50 Top Risers of 2023.