Lubavitcher's Company #6 on Crain's New York Business Top 50

Introducing New York-area companies growing at the speed of light....

#6

Company: YS Catering

Website: thefreshdiet.com

Twitter handle: @FreshDiet

CEO: Zalmi Duchman

Headquarters: Surfside, Fla. (local office in Brooklyn)

3-year growth rate: 459%

2011 revenue: $28.7 million*

Profitable? No

Local employees: 75

Global employees: 220

*2011 results were incomplete

What it does: Prepares and delivers daily meals to subscribers

How it grew: In 2005, when Zalmi Duchman started YS Catering in Florida, the firm employed three people, including his wife, who did the cooking. The idea—delivering gourmet meals to customers’ doorsteps—was a hit from the outset, and Mr. Duchman quadrupled his revenue in just one year.

As the company grew, however, he outsourced the cooking to other caterers in order to focus on marketing, a decision he regretted because it ended up punishing his cash flow and limiting his ability to diversify the menu.

So, in 2009, he took back his kitchens, began to offer more meal choices and generated enough cash to fund growth. He also made savvy use of Groupon, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to tell his story and build relationships. The result: In 2010, he doubled his revenue over the previous year. Today, YS Catering operates six kitchens in the U.S. and Canada and has more than 200 employees who prepare and ship more than 10,000 meals a day to 2,000 subscribers in 13 metropolitan areas. The biggest kitchen, at 35,000 square feet, is in Park Slope, Brooklyn. continue reading...