Bauccio named National EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 Retail and Consumer Products Award winner

Creating an Entirely New Standard in Food Service: Fedele Bauccio, Co-founder and CEO of Bon Appetit Management Company Honored

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Nov 17, 2014, 08:00 ET

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Fedele Bauccio, co-founder and CEO of Bon Appetit Management Company, an on-site restaurant company that operates more than 500 highly customized onsite restaurants at museums, sports venues, private universities, and corporations, has been named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 National Retail and Consumer Products Award winner.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, a leading business award for entrepreneurs, encourages entrepreneurial activity and recognizes leaders and visionaries who demonstrate innovation, financial success and personal commitment as they create and build world-class businesses.

Bauccio was recognized for redefining the institutional food service industry and being a pioneer in environmental and local sourcing policies. Today, Bon Appetit serves over 150 million scratch-made, locally-sourced, sustainable meals each year. Bauccio received his award at the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards gala, the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth Forum^® in Palm Springs, Calif. The Forum is the nation's premier gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies. Awards were given in 10 additional categories.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges and from more than 250 regional award recipients.

"We are pleased to honor Fedele Bauccio with this award and recognize a true entrepreneur," said Mike Kacsmar, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Americas Program Director. "Entrepreneurs seek to solve problems and transform industries. With his unwavering commitment to supporting sustainable, local ingredients, Bauccio took a traditional industry and changed the entire model. His commitment to his vision is a testament to his success. "

From dishwasher to trailblazer
Bauccio started his career washing dishes at the University of Portland cafeteria as a freshman, and became manager his junior year. He remained another twenty years at the billion dollar food service company, Saga, eventually becoming President of the business food service division. After takeover of Saga by Marriott, Bauccio left to pursue his dream of reinventing the food service industry.

The food service industry is competitive, characterized by low margins, and low differentiation. From the beginning, Bon Appetit did things differently. When Bauccio founded Bon Appetit in 1987, he changed the industry dynamic by replacing food servers with professional chefs, empowered with control over their menu and sourcing of ingredients.

His vision for his company proved to be a highly successful one. Under his leadership, the company has maintained industry-leading margins while remaining price competitive and offering a high-quality product. Revenues and operating income have increased significantly in the last ten years, and Bon Appetit now has a presence in more than 32 states.

Sustainability at its core
"Staying true to my vision, Bon Appetit has been a trailblazer for sustainability," said Bauccio. "It was the first food service company to commit to sustainable seafood, eliminate hormones and non-therapeutic antibiotic use in animals, cook with cage-free eggs, and reduce its carbon footprint and waste, which is down by 30% since 2007. Having successfully incorporated these policies into the supply chain, since 2012 Bon Appetit served over a million pounds of humanely raised beef, with ongoing initiatives related to humanely raised pork and increased farmworker rights and wages. I can't be more proud of those accomplishments."

In fact, Bauccio's company has been behind testimony before Congress and a six month boycott of Florida tomatoes that led to wide-sweeping reform of farmworker rights in the industry. Bauccio also requires his chefs to source at least 20% of their ingredients within a 150-mile radius of the restaurant, resulting in more than $50 million annually for small farmers.

EY National Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 Retail and Consumer Products finalists
In addition to Bauccio the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Retail and Consumer Products finalists in the US were: Dan Mason Schuppan, President, MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc., based in Columbia, Mo.; Ken McBride, Chairman and CEO, Stamps.com, based in El Segundo, Calif.; and David J. Trone, co-owner and President of Total Wine & More, based in Potomac, Md.

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 National Overall Award winner
Dr. David Hung of Medivation was named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 National Overall Award winner.

Video and photos
To view photos of all of the Entrepreneur Of The Year winners, please visit ey.com/us/eoy/.

Sponsors
Founded and produced by EY, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored in the US by SAP America and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The program makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global awards program of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries. ey.com/eoy

About EY's Strategic Growth Markets Network
EY's worldwide Strategic Growth Markets Network is dedicated to serving the changing needs of high-growth companies. For more than 30 years, we've helped many of the world's most dynamic and ambitious companies grow into market leaders. Whether working with international mid-cap companies or early stage, venture-backed businesses, our professionals draw upon their extensive experience, insight and global resources to help your business succeed. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/sgm or follow news on Twitter @EY_Growth.

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

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This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, an EY member firm serving clients in the US.

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