Sodexo

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Sodexo S.A.

Type	Public (Euronext: SW)
Founded	1966
Headquarters	Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Key people	Pierre Bellon (Founder and Chairman of the board), Michel Landel (CEO)
Industry	Hospitality
Services	Foodservice, facility management, service vouchers
Revenue	€13.61 billion (2008)[1]
Operating income	▲ €690 million (2008)[1]
Profit	▲ €376 million (2008)[1]
Employees	355,040 (2008)[1]
Website	www.sodexo.com

Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance, Euronext: SW) is a French multinational corporation, one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in the world, with 355,000 employees, representing 130 nationalities, present on 30,600 sites in 80 countries. For fiscal year 2008 (ending August 2008) revenues reached 13.6 billion euros, with a market capitalization of 5.6 billion euros. Revenues by region represent: 37% Continental Europe, 37% North America, 11% UK and Ireland, 15% Rest of World.

Sodexo is organized into two entities: Food Services and Facilities Management and Service Vouchers and Cards. Sodexo services many sectors including private corporations, government agencies, schools from elementary through university, hospitals and clinics, assisted-living facilities, military bases, and correctional facilities.

History

The company was launched in 1966 by Pierre Bellon (Chairman) in Marseille, France, initially serving company restaurants, schools and hospitals under the name Société d'Exploitation Hotelière (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, Société 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.^[2]

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. 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 2005 Michel Landel was appointed Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Pierre Bellon, who continues as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

In the summer of 2006, the company made headlines for concluding a deal with former NBA^{[clarification needed]} participant 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 2007, its United States operations have been headed by President and CEO George Chavel, who replaced Richard Macedonia.

Food services and facilities management

Sodexo offerings range from self-service food services that include staff restaurants, catering, executive dining, vending, and meal delivery, to integrated facilities management services that include both soft and hard services; examples of the soft ones are providing reception help desks, concierge services, cleaning, laundry, grounds keeping, waste management, and facilities maintenance, whereas the hard services include plumbing, HVAC filter systems, energy maintenance and repair, and project management.

Service Vouchers and Cards (SVC)

One of the top two companies worldwide in this sector,^{[citation needed]} Sodexo provides companies and public authorities with meal passes, restaurant vouchers, mobility passes, leisure passes, book cards, and training vouchers.

Name change

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". The company's corporate website also states that it draws emphasis away from the hotel services industry they were once associated with, as they now focus on many other directions. ^[4] A new logo was adopted at the same time. The logo of the company was also changed, dropping the five stars to a single star. The bar of the letter 'x' is also now curved, like a smile, supposedly suggestive of the company's desire to constantly seek and increase the satisfaction of their clients.^[3] The prefix 'Sod' was retained, despite negative connotations in British English.

Philanthropy

Sodexo started the STOP Hunger initiative in 1996 in the USA to fight hunger and its root causes. In 2007 the Sodexo Foundation initiated a program of STOP Hunger scholarships to recognize students who were engaged in community service to fight hunger. The Sodexo Foundation has also funded research on the root causes of hunger and possible solutions to the problem. The company's Feeding our Future program provides meals for needy children in 28 cities in the US and Canada. Sodexo currently has active STOP Hunger initiatives in 23 countries.

Controversy

The company's activities in private prisons and in schools have given rise to considerable controversy at over sixty US colleges and institutions^{[citation needed]}. 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)^[5].

There have been at least eight 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, at DePauw University in Indiana, at Nordea banks in Finland and at the University of Tampere, Finland. 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. Similarly, at DePauw University the students protested Sodexo's low pay, relationship with prisons, and the lack of local food options. 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.^[6] At the Nordea banks the issue was a cut in wages after Sodexo took over the bank's workplace food services^[7][8]. After a successful boycott, the wages were raised.^[9] Sodexo has come under fire in the UK for doing business with the Harmondsworth Detention Centre, home to many asylum seekers.

Competitors

• Compass Group PLC
• Aramark
• Elior
• Accor
• Guckenheimer
• Innovative Cleaners

References

External links

• Official website

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