Compass Group says labor challenges are easing. To that end, the foodservice provider reported an improvement in attracting and retaining labor in its first fiscal quarter of 2024. Dominic Blakemore, CEO of Compass Group, said that the foodservice provider’s labor turnover rates have fallen over the past quarter. He noted that labor turnover rates are at pre-COVID levels.
“I think that tells you that from a Compass labor standpoint, we are attracting labor. We're retaining those colleagues better than we've ever done. And we're incredibly focused on that because we know that that drives incredible efficiency and consistency in our operations,” he said in a call to investors on Feb. 8.
The foodservice provider reported 11.3% organic revenue growth in North America for the quarter, in part due to the continued return-to office and activity in its sports and leisure business. Blakemore said the recovery post-COVID in the sports and leisure segment has been positive.
“The consumer reaction to price inflation has been very positive,” said Blakemore. “And I think what we see emerging is potentially a new consumer within that category. We've got travel tourists who will come to major cities across Europe and the U.S. to experience sports and leisure and who really want to spend to enjoy those occasions.”
Overall, performance for the quarter was strong, said Blakemore, despite some inflationary pressures.
“We’ve had a strong start to the year with sustained balanced growth across all regions. Outsourcing trends and volumes were strong despite continued inflationary pressures and some macroeconomic uncertainty,” he said in a statement.