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Beyond beef ribeye rolls SYSCO, America's largest - and arguably most eminent - food service distributor, supplies more than 275,000 different products to approximately 325,000 restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals, industrial caterers, and food franchises. With a product line that includes frozen foods, canned goods, fresh meat, produce, imported specialties, paper goods, SYSCO owns a huge share its the market. In fact, that share is larger than the combined shares of its six closest competitors. Yet there is much more to SYSCO than beef ribeye rolls and strawberry banana kiwi juice. Spanning Canada as well as the U.S., the company also dabbles in medical and health care products. If you think that wound care equipment and incontinence items don't mix with food, SYSCO disagrees - and its profits prove its case. The company consistently earns annual sales in excess of $15 billion. SYSCO's major brands include Supreme, Imperial, Classic, and Reliance. The company uses its subsidiary, the SYGMA Network, Inc., to address distribution and special product needs. SYGMA, with its 12 major U.S. distribution centers, caters to the needs of larger, multi-unit customers such as restaurant chains. Incredible edible history John Baugh, a Houston wholesale food distributor, founded SYSCO in 1969 after persuading the owners of eight other U.S. wholesale companies to join him in founding a national food distribution company. Since then, SYSCO has grown by acquiring strong local distributors and by forming subsidiaries to service new sectors of the market. In 1999, for example, SYSCO acquired Doughtie's Foods, Inc. Headquartered in Virginia, Doughtie's generates approximately $87 million in annual revenue, making it a "Top 50" broadline food industry contender - and a fat notch in SYSCO's belt. The acquisition of FreshPoint Holdings in early 2000 should contribute almost $1 billion in sales to Sysco's already healthy produce division. And now Sysco is bringing its services online through the new site Restaurant.com. The site offers a restaurant database that covers places to eat nationwide, dining trends, wine selections, etiquette, gift certificates, and food ordering. Sysco will help the site through its extensive force of operating companies, which will help expand the database listings through the many local markets they are involved in. Just another way Sysco is helping America eat.
To find job opportunities at SYSCO, your best bet is to study the employment section of the company Web site or www.syscosmart.com/corporate/corpframe.htm. You must search by location. In keeping with its decentralized hiring practices, SYSCO provides contact information for each of its local offices. However, some locations provide more information than others. Philadelphia, for example, provides the various contacts: Sales: JoChristensen@syscophilly.com; Customer Service - 215 218-1600 extension 2; and Human Resources - 215 218-1600 extension 1672. Billings, Montana, on the other hand, offers more limited information: P.O. Box 31198; Billings, Montana 59101; Telephone: (406) 247-1100. The SYSCO distribution network extends throughout the United States, Alaska, and Canada. Not surprisingly, hiring practices differ by location.
Prominence SYSCO insiders enjoy the "prominence" of the company; they proudly call it "the biggest and the best" in the food service industry. One insider applauds the company's "flexibility. His colleague adds: "SYSCO makes a concerted effort to help employees achieve their career goals through comprehensive training." While individual locations vary, dress code is typically "suit and tie when on the street." Fortunately, adds one insider, "there is a casual day the last Friday of every month." Food for free The free food that makes its way around SYSCO certainly "boosts office morale." Yet not all insiders are satisfied with company culture. One suggest that "SYSCO, like many companies, does not treat its blue-collar workers as well as it treats its management." Other informants hope that SYSCO makes a "more aggressive effort" to hire women for its sales force, since "the women SYSCO does hire usually perform better than the men." Company work schedules, meanwhile, span from "55 to 65 hours a week."
Human Resources
Foods and beverages; Food service supplies; Health care and medical supplies
Cagle's;Heinz;U.S. Foodservice More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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