Foodservice is a business term which is mostly synonymous with "catering." Foodservice firms typically supply meals on a contract basis to institutions such as schools and hospitals, and also offer corporate catering. In some cases they even serve the general public through fast food outlets and coffee shops, sometimes as franchisees. Major foodservice firms include Royal Ahold, Compass Group and Sodexho. Who they own Europe Ahold Czech Republic A.S. Ahold Polska - (Poland) Ahold Retail Slovakia k. ... The British company Compass Group is one of the largest food service businesses in the world. ... Sodexho, or more properly Sodexho Alliance, is a French multinational corporation, the largest provider of food and management services in the world. ...

In the United States, the term generally describes companies that provision restaurants or front of house employees in a restaurant. A typical restaurant in uptown Manhattan A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ...

Some companies manufacture products in both consumer and foodservice versions. The consumer version usually comes in individual-sized packages created by professional graphic designers for display at retail, while the foodservice version comes in bulk in cardboard boxes with plain brown or white coloring. Graphic design is the applied art of arranging image and text to communicate a message. ...