Global Contract Catering Market Report - 2011 Edition

Revolutionary developments during the last few decades in science, telecom, IT, infrastructure, explorations, etc. have had far reaching effects globally. With changing demographic patterns; increased travelling necessities for work and pleasure; expansion in business and industry, healthcare, education, and other fields, a new work culture has evolved. This created the need to provide professional foodservices for both the social and work related needs. Contract catering mode established itself successfully meeting the challenging requirements of foodservice outsourcing needs of the society at large. The economic downturn in the recent past led to a decline in the global contract catering market in 2009, however, the market bounced back during 2010 in response to economic revival all across the globe.

The market for contract catering is well established in the developed markets while it is fast emerging in developing countries. The Western European region, particularly the UK and France, and the US are the major markets of outsourced catering services. The business and industry sector has historically accounted for maximum revenue generation in the market, however, the long term growth opportunities lies in the services to education and healthcare sector, in particular. The rapid economic growth witnessed in the emerging nations such as India and China coupled with increasing demand for outsourced catering services has forced the global players in the contract catering market to focus more on serving the needs of these regions.

The society is witnessing an ever growing need of outsourcing of foodservices due to social and work related concerns. Contract catering providers are successfully meeting this growing need by expanding their geographic reach, offering diverse and unique services, and serving new roles. In addition, the growing demand in emerging markets has opened new vistas of opportunities for the growth of the global contract catering market.

The competitive landscape of the global contract catering market includes mainly four leading players: Compass Group Plc, Sodexo, Aramark, and Elior indicating high level of concentration in the market. At the same time, the market for contract catering is extremely fragmented with several small and regional players operating in the market.

This report offers an analysis of the global contract catering industry. It also analyzes the main trends and challenges for the industry with specific focuses on the growth of this industry in the European region and its two key markets, namely the UK and France. Further, the report highlights the positioning and strategies of top global contract caterers - Compass, Sodexo, Aramark and Elior.