What Cater To You does

Cater To You is a U.S.-based managed dining services provider for independent and private schools, founded in 1988 and headquartered in New City with 101–250 employees. The company designs and operates full on-campus dining programs for educational institutions, covering menu planning, chef-driven and globally inspired food preparation, staffing, and program management, delivered through enterprise-level contracts with school administrators. Its go-to-market is a consultative, direct field-sales motion, with pricing structured per institution and no public rate cards. Operationally, Cater To You now operates under the Elior Independent Schools Dining brand, sitting as a wholly-owned subsidiary inside Elior Group, a publicly traded European food services conglomerate listed on Euronext Paris; founder Anthony Trentacosti remains as president, with Kathryn Trentacosti as vice president. The offering is service-based rather than technology-based, with no disclosed proprietary software platform, AI system, or third-party integrations beyond a corporate website and direct contact channel; the primary commercial differentiator is personalized service quality and the Elior Group institutional brand rather than a technology moat.

Name

Cater To You

Legal name

Elior Independent Schools Dining

Website

https://catertoyoufoodservice.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Cater To You is a U.S. managed dining services provider for independent K-12 schools, founded in 1988 and operating under Elior Group's Elior Independent Schools Dining brand. It delivers chef-crafted menus, staffing, and full on-campus program management via enterprise contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School Food Services

NAICS

Food Service Contractors (72231), Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets (722514)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Service & Dining Operations Management (Managed Cafeterias) (EDAEALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Menu Planning, Nutrition & Dietary Accommodation Services (Allergens, Special Diets) (EDAEAEAD), Vending, Kiosk & À La Carte Food Programs (On-Campus Retail) (EDAEAEAI)

Keywords

• School dining services
• Independent school catering
• Cafeteria management
• Educational food services
• Managed dining programs

Headquarters

HQ city

New City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Managed Dining Services: Elior Independent Schools Dining provides comprehensive food service management to independent schools under contract. The company handles all aspects of dining programs including menu planning, food preparation, staffing, and program management, operating as a outsourced dining services partner for educational institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cater To You, operating as Elior Independent Schools Dining, provides managed dining services to independent K-12 schools. The company designs, staffs, and operates on-campus dining programs featuring chef-crafted, globally inspired menus customized to each school's community, with hospitality services delivered by dedicated on-site team members. It positions itself as a family-led organization dedicated to providing healthy, tasty cuisine to growing schoolchildren.

Product overview

Cater To You (operated as Elior Independent Schools Dining) is a dining services provider for independent schools. The company offers a personalized dining program tailored to individual school communities, including chef-crafted menus, globally inspired dishes, and hospitality services. The service focuses on creating food experiences that engage students, support their well-being, and integrate with each school's mission and culture. No distinct named technology products, modules, or software platforms were identified in the source material — the offering is a service-based dining program rather than a technology product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Managed School Dining Programs End-to-end on-campus dining management for independent K-12 schools, including menu design, chef-led food preparation, staffing, and on-site hospitality service. Delivered as a customized program tailored to each school's community preferences.
• Chef-Crafted Custom Menus
• On-Site Hospitality Service

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Elior Group: Elior Group is the publicly traded French parent company of Cater To You and a major international contract catering and food services group, providing strategic, operational, and capital backing to the subsidiary.
• Guckenheimer (Elior North America): Guckenheimer is the corporate dining and hospitality arm of Elior North America, a sister brand to Cater To You under the same parent, addressing workplace and institutional dining with an overlapping operational model.

Direct peers

• Whitsons Culinary Group: Whitsons is a U.S. family-owned food service management company focused primarily on K-12 schools, providing a comparable outsourced cafeteria and dining management offering to independent and public schools.
• Taher, Inc. Taher is a U.S. food service management company serving K-12 schools and other institutions with managed dining programs, overlapping with Cater To You's independent-school focus and contract-based delivery model.
• Parkhurst Dining (Eat'n Park Hospitality Group): Parkhurst Dining provides customized managed dining services to private schools, colleges, and corporate clients, with an emphasis on chef-driven menus and hospitality that mirrors Cater To You's positioning.
• SAGE Dining Services: SAGE Dining Services specializes in private and independent school dining programs, making it the closest direct head-to-head competitor to Cater To You in the same customer vertical and service model.
• Flik Hospitality Group (Compass Group): Flik is Compass Group's premium private-school and corporate hospitality brand, competing directly with Cater To You for upscale independent school dining contracts with chef-driven, customized menus.
• Chartwells (Compass Group): Chartwells is the K-12 arm of Compass Group, one of the world's largest contract food service companies, offering managed dining programs to public and private schools in direct competition with Cater To You.
• Sodexo (Sodexo Education): Sodexo operates a large North American education segment providing managed dining, catering, and concessions to schools and universities, directly competing with Cater To You for institutional food service contracts.
• Aramark: Aramark is one of the largest U.S. food service and facilities management companies, with a dedicated K-12 and higher-education dining division that competes head-to-head with Cater To You for school managed-services contracts.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cater To You