RODNEY K. COUCH

Founder & Chief executive officer

Rodney Couch is founder & CEO of Preferred Hospitality, Inc., the managing entity for Market Broiler Restaurants and Provider Contract Foodservice.

A native resident of Riverside, California, Rodney was born, raised and schooled in Southern California. He is a graduate of Biola University’s BOLD program. His B.S. in Organizational Leadership brings added knowledge and strength to all his endeavors.

His restaurant career began at the age of 15, as a dishwasher for C&C Corporation. He worked continuously in numerous positions for various restaurant concepts.

At the ripe age of 19 he landed a job with the Seafood Broiler Restaurants, where after a period of management training, Rodney was appointed General Manager of their City of Industry location. Shortly thereafter, Rodney was awarded as one of the top sales performers of the chain, and was promoted to “opening” General Manager. With his new title, he took on the role of training, mentoring, and developing of all new managers & locations for the Seafood Broiler concept into the new markets of San Diego and Northern California.

In 1988, the 28-unit Seafood Broiler chain was sold to Red Lobster (of Darden Industries) by the French company, ACCOR.

Red Lobster offered Rodney a position in management, but he declined, determined instead to build his own business. He chose to partner with an entrepreneur, Joseph Pitruzzello, in a local Italian restaurant in Riverside. Rodney was able to add to his restaurant knowledge, by experiencing life through the eyes of an independent owner.

Soon he was becoming restless — his real dream was to own & operate his own business. He drafted a business plan and with the support of his family and a collection of former key executives from Seafood Broiler, Rodney was able to compile both the financial contributions and advisory capabilities to launch the new Market Broiler Restaurant.

Mr. Couch opened his first Market Broiler Restaurant in 1989, a seafood restaurant that has earned the crown of “Best for Seafood” continuous since 1994. The chain has enjoyed great success and continues to thrive, operating six restaurants throughout California.

The contract foodservice division ”Provider” was started in 2002 and aim’s to be the foodservice company of choice in the Inland Empire. Bringing to the table new ideas, fresh site designs and truly appetizing menu offerings, was an innovation to an industry that has been often burdened with the notion of being “institutional” in nature. As you will see, their foodservice client will attest to the fact that Provider shatters the myth that contract food has to be boring.

With decades of success to his credit, Rodney Couch would like to accelerate the growth of both his concepts, vowing to never compromise superior quality and polished service that has become the foundational cornerstones of the Market Broiler concepts today.