Jan Los, President of Orange by Fooda, truly exudes his Dutch roots. He towers at 6 feet 5 inches, and his shoulders are wide enough to make you question whether he’s going to be able to fit through the door. He is stereotypically not someone you would picture in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Yet, that’s exactly where he thrives.
“I'm not the most elegant of servers, and it's hard to get around me in the kitchen,” he said. “People do tend to listen to somebody of size, and so, for better or for worse, I think it's allowed me a voice more than others might have.”
For better, that voice has led Los to a 31-year career in the restaurant and hospitality industry, and on July 1, 2026, he celebrated his two-year anniversary at Orange by Fooda. Previously known as Fooda’s enterprise division, Orange by Fooda is a modern take on traditional cafeterias. By incorporating a rotating selection of local restaurants into a cafe, Orange elevates standard workplace dining experiences while still supporting both local communities and workplace culture.
Having grown up in the Netherlands, Los began his career there by studying at Hotelschool The Hague, one of the top-rated hospitality and hotel management universities in the world. He finished his studies with an internship at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, and has been in the U.S. ever since.
After six years at the Waldorf, Los transitioned from a hospitality focus to working on the finance side of the industry. Throughout his time in foodservice and hospitality, he’s worked in sales and operations, and has been a Strategic Account Director, Director of Finance, CFO, and President.
After an extensive career that touched many different facets of the industry, Los was ready to get back to operations. That’s when Fooda came into the picture.
Sitting at the intersection of technology and hospitality, Fooda was the logical next step for Los. What confirmed his decision was the people at the company.
“It’s an organization of just very kind, thoughtful people,” he said. Alongside kindness, Los said he also values Fooda’s celebration of the restaurant community and the entrepreneurial spirit that people at Fooda have.
When Los joined the Fooda family, he began in the same division he’s still in today. Fooda’s enterprise division, which has since been rebranded to Orange by Fooda under Los’s direction, underwent a full strategic analysis once Los began. What resulted was a brand new set of standards and uniformity.
One of Los’s biggest accomplishments while leading Orange is how employees have truly embraced the division’s new identity. Under Maggie Hemsworth, SVP of Orange, the operations team rebranded the enterprise division to Orange. Once this update was made and their new standards were implemented, employees excitedly welcomed the division’s new image.
“[Watching] them get excited in their uniforms and with the program, that's something that I'll forever appreciate and love,” he said. “I never anticipated that being the case. I had a truly pragmatic approach to it, but that's the part that makes me the happiest.”
Much of Orange’s revamp was inspired by Los’s time in New York City working under Danny Meyer. Meyer, a renowned restaurateur, is known for his pioneering philosophies in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Rather than focusing solely on the product that is being presented, Meyer believes that employees, the culture of the restaurant and/or business, and the community itself play a large role in the overall experience of customers. Taking inspiration from the books “Setting the Table” by Danny Meyer and “Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara, an apprentice of Meyer’s, the Orange team established a hospitality training program and division-wide standards that helped create consistency across the board.
Today, Orange’s mission is a continued extension of Fooda’s mission: combine Fooda’s hospitality and technology with delicious food from local restaurants, giving employees access to authentic meals in the workplace.
“We're surrounding ourselves with the best restaurants and catering companies to do what they do best: cook their food. And then we support and surround them with a hospitality program that is ours,” Los said. “The combination of our focus on hospitality [and] technology with their focus on how they best execute their recipes and their concepts is something that is very hard to copy. People try, but … our authenticity is very hard to replicate, and it is truly local.”
Los’s initiative and excitement in what Orange has to offer has been evident since his start at Fooda. From analyzing Orange and figuring out where it could improve, to helping establish Orange as its own clear division under Fooda that continues to grow, Los has brought his past experience to the table in order to help Orange flourish.
That’s not to say he hasn’t faced challenges, though.
“The most difficult thing has been knowing you have a better product and trying to get prospective clients to understand that this is really as good as it seems to be,” he said. “If you have something that's too good to be true, how do you convince somebody that this is actually going to work for them? I think that's the hardest thing to overcome.”
While facing obstacles at work is part of any job, the most important thing is how you overcome them. Throughout his career, Los’s challenges and experiences have helped him learn and grow as a person. These lessons learned are what helps him lead Orange the way he does.
His greatest strength as a leader? His willingness to learn, adjust, and be wrong. Having worked with many leaders “who were never wrong,” Los has learned that being willing to admit that he’s not always right helps his team adjust and find solutions more efficiently.
Throughout his career, Los has also learned the perfect recipe for how to incorporate his cultural background into how he works. “I think [there] is a no-nonsense, direct approach that is very Dutch, and if you figure out how to blend that with a pinch of patience and empathy, it actually works really well.”
During his time leading Orange, Los has taken bits and pieces of what he’s learned from throughout his life and applied them to his position at Fooda. His intentionality, alongside the people at Fooda, have made his time here nothing short of memorable.
One of Los’s favorite memories was when the team opened a large cafeteria at a software company. They celebrated by staying together in houses instead of hotels. He and Jay Speidel, EVP of Sales at Orange, made dinner for the team most nights, learning their culinary preferences and dietary accommodations. It was a moment that lent itself to unreplicable teambuilding and allowed his origin in hospitality to shine through.
“Just that level of care and kindness, I truly enjoyed that.”
When hearing Los speak about Orange and Fooda, his hospitable nature continues to emerge. It is evident that he truly cares for Fooda and the people at the company, and that he is proud (although reluctant to brag) about his accomplishments at Orange.
Orange has had good success in the corporate dining sphere. Alongside key wins and very happy customers, Los said that Orange is consistently in the running for the same deals that traditional providers used to always get. Orange’s recent growth has also allowed the company to regionalize the infrastructure for the operating team, which helped Orange upgrade and standardize service standards. These changes initiated by past growth are fueling the company’s next level of growth, Los said. As for what’s next for Orange and Los’s future, he’s excited about allowing leaders throughout the organization to step up, learn , and most of all, watch them succeed.
Whether Los’s height or knack for leadership came first, we may never know. However, through his career and time at Fooda, one thing is certain: Los is an intentional leader who continues to learn from those around him every day. With his continued learning, Los has come to find out what exactly sets Orange apart.
“It’s authentic, it tastes better, and it’s not too good to be true,” he said.
