Cara Operations
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| Cara Operations Limited | |
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| 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, Milestone's and Montana's. The company is based across from Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario.
In 2002, sales for the whole company were 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 its focus on its catering business, to increase market share.
The name Cara was derived from the first two letters of each of the words "Canada Railway"; it is also an Irish word meaning "friend".
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[edit] History
In 1883, Canada Railway News Co. was founded. Cara began as a steamship company on the Niagara River in Ontario. It soon moved into the food business, catering to a boom in passenger rail traffic in Canada.
In the 1930s, Cara began offering catering services to the airlines. By 1951 it was serving about 1 500 meals a day.
In 1961 the company changed its name to Cara Operations Limited.
Cara was owned solely by the Phelan family from its inception in 1883 until it finally went public in 1968. At the time, its primary business was catering to the transportation sector (airline and rail meals), but it did operate a few 'no-name' restaurants and coffee shops in various office towers and airport terminals in Canada. 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 went private.
In 1999, Cara purchased Kelseys inc. from owner Paul Jeffrey, acquiring Montanas, Kelseys and the Outback(Canada). The rights to Outback steakhouse were owned in Canada by Cara, but it was sold back to Outback in the USA because of high food costs. [1]
In 2008, Cara was in the middle of a controversy when 3 employees got arrested at the Montreal-Trudeau airport concerning a drug distribution network that used the planes of wich Cara is reponsible of the catering.
[edit] Operations
Cara currently employs more than 39,000 people.
[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.[citation needed]
- Summit Food Service Distributors Inc.
- Cara Airport Services Division
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- Pearson International Airport (Toronto)
- Flight Kitchen (Vancouver International Airport) - 40% market share[citation needed]
- Rocky Mountain Railtours (British Columbia/Alberta)
[edit] Restaurant Operations
- Cara Air Terminal Restaurant Division
- Harvey's
- Swiss Chalet
- Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill
- Milestone's Restaurants Inc.
- Montana's Cookhouse
[edit] External link
- Cara Operations, official website
[edit] References
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