Cardinal Culinary Services offers offshore work

Like many good business ideas, Cardinal Culinary Services began with a need.

Mike Robinson, a trained chef, was working for Glazier Foods Co. when he was asked to help manage food services at “man camps” after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. After a while, he decided to launch his own business.

From there, he and brother Patrick have diversified, providing catering services to offshore vessels along with traditional onshore catering services.

The Galveston County company feeds and cleans up after crews on dive vessels, sub-sea construction and oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, South America and the North Sea and at remote camps, like where emergency response workers are housed.

Providing food, housekeeping and laundry services for several hundred roughnecks in the Gulf oil patch takes the right logistical touch. Throw in challenging schedules and offshore environments, and it’s a recipe for an intense niche business.

Offshore vessels are like small cities, Mike Robinson said. Workers and professionals who spend weeks at a time offshore want variety. The company works to provide a sophisticated menu, creating more than 2,000 recipes that include high-end fare such as filet mignon. The company’s move from Seabrook and its recent expansion at 5950 FM 517 included building a state-of-the-art test kitchen.

Cardinal Culinary Services also holds a contract with Galveston County Office of Emergency Management to feed first responders during disasters like hurricanes.

Last year, Cardinal Culinary Services was for the second time named by New York City-based Inc. magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America.

Q: What’s the toughest thing about your business?

A: The logistics of moving people and products offshore and to remote locations in a manner that works with our customers’ ever-changing schedules.



Q: What’s the easiest?

A: Inspiring excellence in my staff. I couldn’t be prouder of the men and women that work for us.

Q: How do you keep expenses down?

A: By closely measuring and managing the performance of our various projects and responding quickly to changing conditions.

Q: Does 80 percent of your business still come from serving offshore vessels?

A: At the present time, it does.

Q: You recently invested a lot in expanding your facilities. Can you talk about what the expansion allows you to do?

A: It gives us the ability to grow and manage more and larger projects, which will enable us to increase our revenue exponentially.

Q: What do you do better than your competitors?

A: We try and take a consultative approach to each new project and customer in order to provide customized solutions to answer the unique needs and requirements of the project at hand. No customer is the same. There is no cookie-cutter approach to the services we offer.

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At A Glance

Cardinal Culinary Services

YEAR FOUNDED: 2005

REVENUE: 2011 — $6.2 million; 2010 — $7.2 million

STAFF: Ranges from 125-200 employees

PRINCIPALS: Mike Robinson, president/CEO; Patrick Robinson, business development manager

MAIN OFFICES: 5950 FM 517, Alvin

WEB: www.cardinalculinary.com