JP Foodservice has an appetite for growth
At JP Foodservice, Jim Miller has a simple motto for the future of his company: Don't bite off more than you can chew.</br></br>Miller, chief executive of JP Foodservice Inc., a Columbia company that went public in November, is mapping out a plan for his Maryland company that involves methodical growth that would gradually expand the company's geographic base without straining its purse strings.</br></br>The company used the $86 million it received from its public offering to pay down a chunk of its heavy debt load. It still has $159 million in debt, but much of that has been refinanced at lower interest rates. Analysts say that the company is poised to emerge from a string of quarterly losses caused by its high debt service.</br></br>The company was a subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp. before a management-led leveraged buyout in July 1989. Today, it is considered the sixth-largest food distributor in the United States--and the largest based in the Washington area, analysts say. Company-wide, it employs 2,300 people.</br></br>It distributes food products, such as canned and baked goods, produce and meats, to restaurants, hotels and cafeterias in 25 states and the District. But, unlike some food distribution companies, JP Food service deals in much more than just food. It also distributes other products, including detergents and plastic and metal utensils.