Explanation of Non-Commercial Catering

Non-commercial foodservice operators supply food to businesses, educational, institutional or government organizations. Non-commercial foodservice is also called contract foodservice. Examples would be employee feeding at business offices; student dining at universities, colleges and schools; healthcare foodservice; military foodservice; and a host of different situations. Aramark, Compass and Sodexo are examples of non-commercial or contract foodservice operators.

The term non-commercial stems from the fact that people who eat the food provided by the foodservice are not the ones who hired the foodservice company. Students, patients and employees who eat food at their locations had no input into hiring the food contractor. A single foodservice vendor is selected and they have exclusive right to sell or serve all food consumed at the location, no matter whether the food is given free as a benefit or is paid for. In a hospital, patients get food included in their daily fees, the hospital staff gets discounted food and a visitor pays a regular price in the dining outlets. Non-commercial foodservice operators also offer catering. Depending on the policies in place at the location, the catering may be sold only to people involved at the organization or to the public or to both. Non-commercial catering is subject to the same joys and bumps as commercial catering and may be either on or off-premise.