He's the Pfoodman: Pfremmer shifts his lifestyle, company into high gear after a bout of pneumonia - St. Louis Business Journal:

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"I've had a lot of universityt food experiences, most of them not worth mentioning," said the acting president of "Our students often compliment the which is unusual for Evans echoesthe students, comparinv special event meals from Lindenwood's campus caterer, , to five-star restaurants. The university liked Ralph Pfremmer, the president and principal ownerof Pfoodman, well enough to hire him threwe times -- most recently with Pfoodmanb after his stints with nationao competitors in the food service business. Nationao food service giants suchas , and one of Pfremmer'ds former employers, , dominate the food servic industry.
But more institutions such as Lindenwood want to work with smallerf companies suchas Pfoodman, Pfremmer said. In the last Pfoodman landed three new food service contracts inthe St. Louis area -- with and seniof living centers in WingHaven and inWebster Groves. The growt h in the St. Louizs area, plus consulting work for Pfoodman's existing clients, helped push the six-year-ol company to $7.3 million in revenue for its fiscalk year that endedJune 30. Pfremmer said the businessd is on track to generate morethan $10 million in revenu for its current fiscal year. The growtj in St. Louis also prompted Pfoodman to relocatw its corporate operationsfrom Columbia, Mo., to St. Louis in June.
Pfremmef joined Pfoodman in 2001. He receivedx a 20 percent stake in the then knownas , in part for bringing in contracts with Lindenwoox and Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. A year laterf he borrowed $200,000 from in St. Louis to buy out the interesg ofTim Neilsen, one of the company founders. Pfremmer became presideng and now owns 65 percentr ofthe company. His partner and the company's Brian Dittmer of Columbia, owns 35 The company initially changed its name to HospitalityServicese Inc. It expanded into food service for senior living homees and later started calling oncountrh clubs.
Last year it started providing food service for in and this month it renewex its contract foranothert year. The Pfoodman name came shortlt after Pfremmer joined the businesds and had his own epiphany in the wake of a boutof "I used to be a smoker. I weighed abouf 240 pounds," said Pfremmer, who now weighs 180. He gave up tobaccoi and started exercising seriouslu and watchinghis diet. Pfremmer managed to blenfd his new lifestyle with his He took up bicycling and startedr providing food at bicycle races and other cycling events to promote his He became known asthe Pfoodman, and the name "I started marketing (with the cycling because it was the audience I Pfremmer became serious enough about the sport that he starte d racing in amateur road and off-road eventw throughout the Midwest.
He is a member of . Pfoodmahn now has nine contract food service sitesa and218 full-time employees. Of about 150 are in the St. Louisx area. Another 300 people work part time forthe "There's not many timese a person can jump on top of an organization this he said, adding that he believexs the company can triple its revenue in the next several "I can't go backwards now." Professional Jeff Causey, commercial lending officer of First Nationalo Bank in St. Louis, is Pfoodman's The company uses two law firms: Dale Rawlingz of in St. Charles and in Dave Wiggins of in Maryland Heightd isthe company's accountant. Pfoodman LLC 930 Kehrse Mill Road, Suite 324 Mo., 63011 www.
pfoodman.com