Sodexo

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Sodexo
Type Public
Founded 1966
Headquarters Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Area served 80 countries
Key people Pierre Bellon; Michel Landel
Industry Food services; Facility management; Service vouchers and cards
Services Food services; Facility management; Vouchers and cards
Revenue 13.385 billion EUR (2007)
Operating income 640 million EUR (2007)
Profit 363 million EUR (2007)
Employees 342,000 (Jan. '08)
Website www.sodexo.com

Sodexo (Sodexho Alliance prior to 23 January 2008, Euronext: SW) is a French multinational corporation and one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world. It is present in 29,000 sites within eighty countries, earning revenue in 2007 of €13.385 billion. Sodexo has two major lines of business: food and facility management services, and service vouchers and cards.

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[edit] Food services

Sodexo notably operates cafeterias in companies, public agencies, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, assisted-living facilities, United States military mess halls, and even private prisons.

[edit] History

The company was launched by Pierre Bellon (Chairman) and Remi Baudin (Vice Chairman) in 1966 in Marseille, initially serving staff restaurants, schools and hospitals under the name Societé d'Exploitation Hotelière (in English, Hotel Services Corporation).

Throughout the 1970s, the company expanded in France and internationally; first in Belgium, then Africa, and finally the Middle East. After an initial public offering on the Paris Bourse in 1983, the firm continued its expansion into North America, South America, Japan, South Africa, and Russia.

Between 1995 and 2001, Societé d'Exploitation Hotelière's holding company changed its name to Sodexho Alliance, and the company forged alliances with Gardner Merchant, Partena, Sogeres, Wood Dining Services and Universal Ogden Services. In 2000 Sodexho Alliance became the leader in remote site management after a merger with Universal Ogden Services.[1]

In 1998, Sodexho merged with Marriott Management Services, at the time one of the largest food services companies in North America. Included in the merger was a name change to Sodexho Marriott Services, which has since been changed to just Sodexo. The merger helped Sodexho become one of the largest food services providers in America.[2]

In 2002 Sodexho was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In the summer of 2006, the company made headlines for inking a deal with NBA legend and business entrepreneur, Earvin Magic Johnson and Magic Food Provisions, a subsidiary of Magic Johnson Enterprises. The initiative includes a marketing agreement and the formation of SodexhoMagic, LLC - a new joint venture that is 51 percent owned by Johnson.[citation needed]

Since September 2006, the company has been managed by global CEO Michel Landel. Since September 2007, its United States operations are headed up by President and CEO George Chavel, who replaced Richard Macedonia.

The company changed its official name from Sodexho Alliance to simply Sodexo after a shareholder vote at the company's annual general meeting on 22 January 2008.[3] The reason for removing the letter 'h' from Sodexho, cited in the group's 2007 annual report, is that "in certain languages an 'x' followed by an 'h' is difficult to pronounce".[4] A new logo was adopted at the same time.[3]

[edit] Philanthropy

Sodexo started the Stop Hunger initiative aimed at eliminating hunger, especially of children. The Stop Hunger volunteers work everyday to provide food to needy children and their families in many locations in North America through programs such as Feeding Our Future and Campus Kitchens. The Sodexo Foundation has also funded research on the root causes of hunger and possible solutions to the problem.

[edit] Controversy

The company's activities in private prisons and in schools have given rise to considerable controversy at over sixty US colleges and institutions[5]. The film Super Size Me criticized Sodexo's policies on child nutrition in their client schools, featuring Madison Junior High School in Naperville, Illinois. In 2004, UK TV Channel 4 showed a documentary exposing the unhygienic preparation of food by Tillery Valley (a subsidiary of Sodexo)[6].

There have been at least five boycotts of Sodexo, for varying reasons: at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, at the American University in Washington D.C., and at Université Laval in Quebec City, at Binghamton University in New York, and Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The boycott at the American University was in protest of several of Sodexo's business relationships and practices: its partnerships with the US Military, its business with prisons, low pay, and poor working conditions. The boycott at Université Laval protested the university administration's refusal of an initiative by the general student association (CADEUL) to provide food services to the university.[7] Sodexo has come under fire in the UK for doing business with the Harmondsworth Detention Centre, home to many asylum seekers.

[edit] Competitors

[edit] References

  1. ^ Company history
  2. ^ Company history
  3. ^ a b Sodexo (23 January 2008). "Sodexho becomes Sodexo, the reference brand in Quality of Life services". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  4. ^ Annual Report 2007. Sodexho Alliance. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  5. ^ Not with our money
  6. ^ Unison Companies Update Issue 28 28/07/04, [1] accessed 26/05/06
  7. ^ Boycott Sodexho

[edit] External links

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