Meaning & use
foodservice
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Meanings
noununcountablebusiness
The business of preparing and supplying meals to places such as restaurants, hospitals, schools, and company kitchens.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it has no plural and takes a singular verb: foodservice is growing.
Patterns
- the foodservice industry
- foodservice company
- work in foodservice
She spent ten years working in foodservice before opening her own cafe.
The foodservice sector added thousands of jobs last year.
Our company sells kitchen equipment to the foodservice trade.
noununcountablebusiness
The part of a hotel, store, or event where meals and drinks are prepared and served to customers.
Grammar: Uncountable and often used before another noun, as in foodservice staff or foodservice area.
Patterns
- foodservice staff
- foodservice area
- foodservice operation
Hotel foodservice runs from six in the morning until midnight.
The airline improved its foodservice on long flights.
He manages foodservice for a large conference center.
Common combinations
- the foodservice industry
- Many students hope to find work in the foodservice industry.
- foodservice company
- A large foodservice company supplies meals to local schools.
- foodservice worker
- Foodservice workers often start early in the morning.
- foodservice equipment
- The restaurant replaced all its foodservice equipment last spring.
- contract foodservice
- The hospital uses contract foodservice instead of cooking meals itself.
Synonyms and how they differ
- catering
- Catering usually means supplying food for a specific event or client, while foodservice is the broader industry term for regular meal supply.
- hospitality
- Hospitality covers hotels, tourism, and guest services as well as food; foodservice is only the food and drink side.
Word family
- food service noun
- A two-word spelling of the same term, common in older business writing.
Commonly confused: foodservice or food services?
foodservice vs food services
The plural form usually means specific departments or programs that provide meals, while the uncountable foodservice names the whole industry.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'foodservice' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Foodservice' is an uncountable business noun, so it fits best before another noun like 'industry'. Option 0 treats it as a kind of food you can taste, option 2 invents a verb, and option 3 wrongly uses a plural verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “foodservice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.