Inc. 500 Countdown: Restaurant Technologies

Inc.com is counting down to the unveiling of Inc. magazine's Inc. 500 list with a profile a day of one of this year's honorees. Check back Monday through Friday until Oct. 19, when we reveal this year's number one company.

 

Restaurant Technologies

Location:Eagan, Minn.
Three-year Growth: 452%
2004 Revenue:$80.9 million
No. of Employees: 400
Founded: 1998

What it does: Tends to the frying oil tanks at restaurants and dining halls (at hospitals, schools, and military bases). In return for use of the company's patented equipment that keeps the deep fryers clean and in good working order, customers sign five-year contracts to have RTI deliver the oil and empty their used-oil tanks. Why it's growing: Bulk oil systems are an easy sell, says founder Paul Plooster, because they eliminate the need for food workers to lug around five-gallon containers of the stuff and replace unsightly, odoriferous waste-oil vats. RTI's average customer uses 350 pounds of frying oil per week.