E-mail Article
Print Article![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
After eight years in real estate, Yost missed refreshment services.
He started another honor box business in 1993 under the name, Snacks for a Purpose. But he quickly learned that many employers, particularly large ones, were less accepting of honor boxes. So he expanded into full-line vending and OCS under the name Premier Services. His vending/OCS business grew steadily during the 1990s.
Yost realized that many of the larger vending accounts wanted manual feeding. He came across an opportunity to buy a Lemon Tree franchise with about four manual foodservice sites in Denver in 2001 and purchased it.
His manual feeding business, called Eur-o-serve,
has since grown to 20 accounts and a sizable catering business. It also prepares much of the food for his cold food machines.
KEY TO SUCCESS: THE RIGHT ASSOCIATES
The expansion into manual feeding was a big boost, but Yost credits most of his success to having the right people working with him. “It’s very difficult to put all the right people together,” he said. To get the right people, it is necessary to pay them well, he observed. But the investment is worthwhile, since it results in better customer service and ultimately a more stable account base.
Yost’s sister, Carolyn Sleezer, has been his buyer for several years. He recently hired Eugene Byron, who was Denver vending manager for Sodexo, as his vending operations manager. He also hired Ken Kaina, a longtime veteran for the nationals, as his OCS manager.
Premier Services has become a major player in the Denver vending market, but Yost has retained his honor box business. He said it allows larger volume snack purchases.
In 2004, he began focusing more on the OCS business. He came across an opportunity to buy coffee roasting equipment, and made the investment. He recognized that consumers were focused on quality coffee, and he reasoned that roasting his own coffee would give him more control over quality and cost.
To hone his coffee professionalism, Yost joined the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
Single-cup has been a great growth area for his OCS business. He uses Colibri, Brio and Flavia single-cup machines.
