Cara Operations

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cara Operations Limited (formerly TSX:CAO, CAO.A) is a privately owned Canadian company that provides catering services to airlines and operates several restaurant and coffee shop chains including: Harvey's, Swiss Chalet, Second Cup, Kelsey's and Montana's. The company is based across from Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario.

1 Company
2 Operations
- 2.1 Catering Services
- 2.2 Restaurant Operations
3 History
4 Company timeline
5 External link

[edit] Company

Current sales for the whole company in 2002 was C$ 1.9 Billion. 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. Second Cup may be expanded on an international level (not into the United States). And renewed 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".

[edit] Operations

Cara currently employs more than 39,000 employees.

[edit] 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.

Summit Food Service Distributors Inc.
Cara Airport Services Division

Pearson International Airport (Toronto)
Flight Kitchen (Vancouver International Airport) - 40% market share

Rocky Mountain Railtours (British Columbia/Alberta)

[edit] Restaurant Operations

Cara Air Terminal Restaurant Division
Harvey's
Swiss Chalet
Second Cup
Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill
Milestone's Restaurants Inc.
Montana's Cookhouse

[edit] History

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.

Cara had long been a family owned business 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.