For Fortune 500 companies like Merrill Lynch and RBS, part of staying atop the economic food chain means having alert, well-nourished employees.
For family-owned businesses, having the financial support of these conglomerates can sometimes mean the difference between feast or famine.
Garden Catering has been at one end of this little-guy, big-guy reciprocal relationship for more than two decades, thriving in a region that boasts dozens of large-scale employers that regularly hold special events and that need ample supplies of breakfast, lunch or dinner to keep their operations running.
- From left, Frank Carpenteri Jr., Tina Carpenteri and Frank Carpenteri Sr. in Old Greenwich.
Frank Carpenteri Jr., the manager of Garden Catering”™s flagship location in Old Greenwich, said the company caters regularly to companies like Starwood, Virgin Atlantic, NBC Universal and Indeed as well as RBS and Merrill Lynch. The company, which began in 1991 in Fairfield County, has since expanded to Westchester County and also caters to schools and sponsors area Little League teams.
“If you take care of your customers, that”™s your best form of marketing,” Carpenteri said. “The food speaks for itself.”
It takes a hefty supply of product to prepare for both the thousands of catering orders the company fills per year and the daily rush its seven retail locations face. Last year, the company purchased more than 300,000 pounds of boneless chicken breast, 20,000 pounds of sliced American cheese and 4,000 pounds of seasoning salt.
For high-end cocktail parties, baby showers and other suit-and-tie events, Tina Carpenteri, the company”™s catering director and Frank Jr.”™s sister, said the company produces more formal arrangements of its most popular items. It can take days to produce mega-orders for area companies, and it can become an even bigger challenge when events are cancelled due to weather.
The largest orders, she said, have historically been made by RBS, but the most memorable order was a batch of 2,200 chicken nuggets for 1,000 construction workers during the dead of winter.
“Some of these Fortune 500 companies, they just go crazy for things like bacon-egg-and-cheeses and chili,” she said. “It”™s food anybody can eat.”
Among the items on its American-style menu, the company is perhaps best known for its chicken nuggets and potato cones ”” similar to tater tots ”” that come in a foil bag, which Frank Carpenteri said are especially a hit with the retail crowd.
Frank Carpenteri Sr., the company”™s owner, opened his first location on Sound Beach Avenue in downtown Old Greenwich in 1991. It has since expanded in Westchester and Fairfield counties to Greenwich, Port Chester, Mamaroneck, Stamford, Fairfield and its most recent location on Westport Avenue in Norwalk, which opened in 2012.
Each location has its own management that reports to the Carpenteris, who work out of an office behind the Old Greenwich location.
Frank Carpenteri Jr. estimates the total customer base reached well into the tens of thousands last year. Garden”™s loyalty program, akin to a frequent flier miles program, has nearly 10,000 members, he added.
“I think we”™re known as a staple in the community,” Carpenteri said. “The challenge is, as we grow, how do we get our Norwalk store to become the community presence we are in Greenwich?”
Don Palmer, the program director of the Greenwich Boys & Girls Club, said he has worked with Garden Catering since he started with the organization 23 years ago. He called Garden Catering “one of the best” family-owned businesses in Greenwich and said the company was due to cater two of the club”™s events in the coming week.
“They cater a lot of our dinners and it”™s also run professionally,” Palmer said. “If we”™re ever in a pinch and ask if they can donate food, they always say yes. They”™re always willing to help the kids in the community.”
Its Hamilton Avenue location in Greenwich sustained heavy fire, smoke and water damage in a New Year”™s Eve fire this past year and has remained closed since. Tina Carpenteri said a cause has not yet been determined and there are no immediate plans to reopen.
Brokers are frequently contacting the business, and cities like Westport and White Plains remain on the company”™ radar as potential expansion sites. Fairfield, Frank Jr. added, could also support a second location because of its proximity to colleges and high percentage of high school students.
“It”™s all location, location, location,” Frank Jr. said. “Any time we can move into good space in a good location, we”™ll do it.”
