| Cara Operations Limited |
 |
| Type |
Privately held company |
| Founded |
1883 |
| Founder |
Phelan family |
| Headquarters |
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
| Key people |
Don Robinson, President & CEO; M. Bernard Syron, Chairman |
| Industry |
Branded restaurants and airline services |
| Employees |
40,000 |
| Divisions |
Swiss Chalet, Kelsey's,
Harvey's, Milestone's Bar & Grill,
Montana's Cookhouse, Airline Solutions |
| Website |
http://www.cara.com |
Cara Operations Limited is a Canadian company that provides
catering services to airlines and operates several restaurant and coffee shop chains including: Harvey's, Swiss Chalet, Kelsey's , Milestones and Montana's. The company is based
across from Lester B. Pearson International Airport in
Mississauga, Ontario.
Current sales for the whole company in 2002 was 1.9 Billion CAD$. 88% of the business
comes from the restaurant services with the remaining 12% deriving from airline catering.
Over the next few years, Cara expects to expand further into Western Canada, and renew their focus on their catering
business, as to increase market share.
The name Cara was derived from the first two letters of each of the words "Canada Railway", and is also an
Irish word meaning "friend".
History
In 1883, Canada Railway News Co. is founded. Cara started out as a Steamship company running on the Niagara River in Ontario.
It soon moved into the food catering business catering to a boom in passenger rail traffic in Canada.
In the 1930s Cara began offering catering services to the airlines. By 1951 they were serving about 1 500 meals a day.
In 1961 the company changes its name to Cara Operations Limited.
Cara had long been owned solely by the Phelan family since its inception in 1883. It finally went public in 1968. At the time
its primary business was catering to the transportation sector (airline and rail meals), but did operate a few 'no-name'
restaurants and coffee shops in various office towers and airport terminals in Canada. The total sales of all the various
operations was C$30 million in 1968.
In 1986 Cara provided services for Vancouver's Expo 86.
On February 26, 2004: Cara goes private.
When Cara purchased Kelseys inc. (1978) from Owner Paul Jeffrey, they bought out Montanas, Kelseys, and the Outback(Canada).
the rights to Outback steakhouse were owned in Canada by Cara, but they sold it back to Outback in the USA because of high food
costs.
Operations
Cara currently employs more than 39,000 employees.
Catering Services
Today Cara controls 60% of the Canadian airline market, providing meals for most of the major airlines from KLM and American Airlines to British
Airways and Air Canada. Meals are prepared at 9 kitchens located across
Canada.[citation needed]
- Summit Food Service Distributors Inc.
- Cara Airport Services Division
-
- Pearson International Airport (Toronto)
- Flight Kitchen (Vancouver International Airport) - 40% market share[citation needed]
- Rocky Mountain Railtours (British Columbia/Alberta)
Restaurant Operations
External links
Coordinates:
43.690824° N 79.623928°
W
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