OPERATION
PROFILE
Micro markets help vending operators compete
with convenience store prices, while bringing in an
alternative consumer base as well.
Ryan Stocks, manager of special projects at Elite Cuisine,
right, makes a purchase at an Elite Cuisine E-Mart.
Revitalizing the i
By Alfonso Flores, Assistant Editor
Co-owners Jim Schweppe
and Steve Closser of Elite
Cuisine LLC, St. Louis, Mo.,
have taken 30 years of food
service experience and used
it to successfully install
their newest endeavor –
micro markets. The systems
already show huge potential.
16
Automatic Merchandiser
T
he thing that sets Elite Cuisine apart from other operations is
a passion for food. Co-owners Jim Schweppe and Steve Closser
describe Elite Cuisine as more of a corporate dining business that
offers full scale vending and offce coffee service options, than the
other way around. So when they decided to add micro markets to the
10-route operation last year, they took everything they knew about
food and grew it into a program that's made them a huge success in
the St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. areas.
In just a year, Schweppe and
Closser added more than 20 markets, all filled with entrées and
VendingMarketWatch.com
June 2013
salads prepared under the direction of certified chefs. This attention to quality food has set their