Five Star Food Service acquires Tennessee’s Lincoln County Vending

 Five Star Food Service announced the acquisition of Lincoln County Vending, a Canteen franchise based in Fayetteville, Tennessee. The acquisition expands the company’s service territory to the west in southern Tennessee along the Alabama state line.

“Dan Holt, his family, and the folks at Lincoln County have built a successful forward-thinking business with strong values and relationships,” Richard Kennedy, Five Star’s president and CEO, said in the announcement. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue the business’ success and serve new customers and communities.”

Lincoln County Vending has been family-owned since its founding in 1989. Dan Holt Sr. and his son Dan Holt Jr. originally started the business as a Tom’s distributor called Dan’s Snack Sales. A year later, the company was renamed to its current name after Dan Holt Jr. bought his father’s share upon his retirement. After 15 years and an eye toward additional growth, Lincoln County Vending became a member of the Canteen franchise group in 2005. 

“As industry friends and neighboring Canteen franchises, our team has gotten to know the Holt family and Kevin Posey, head of operations, quite well over the years,” Mark Stephanos, executive vice president of operations for Five Star, added in the announcement. “We are thrilled to be growing our service area and customer base in southern Tennessee and northern Alabama. This addition fits very well into our operating footprint geographically, connecting to our territories to the north, south, and east.”

Five Star officials will also visit Hands of Mercy Outreach Center to provide an introductory investment in the community via a donation from the Five Star’s nonprofit foundation, Feeding the Future. With the gift, Hands of Mercy will be able to provide thousands of meals to local kids through their Bags of Blessings program.

Five Star Food Service, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a premier away-from-home food and beverage retail solutions provider for employers and other commercial, institutional and educational locations. Five Star is an industry leader in micro markets, full-line vending, pantry, coffee and water services, full-service dining, catering, fresh food production, secured delivery and sustainable products serving customers in 10 states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee. Founded in 1993, Five Star has grown to one of the largest privately held convenience services operators in the United States and is the largest franchise of Canteen, a Compass Group company.