HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY), North America's largest foodservice marketer and distributor, today unveiled an innovative program to extend real-time food safety data to the non-SYSCO brand produce the company offers. SYSCO's self-imposed requirement, which has always been in place for SYSCO and FreshPoint branded products, should reassure customers that they are purchasing products only from growers and shippers who have implemented stringent food safety and traceability processes.
Richard J. Schnieders, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "The safety of the products we distribute is paramount to SYSCO, our FreshPoint specialty produce company, our operating companies and our customers. Our organization has been recognized in the industry as a leader in developing food safety programs for products that are manufactured and processed for our corporation and sold under our brands. Our Quality Assurance team now has developed this program to further protect the safety of all ready-to-eat produce we distribute, whether it is sold under our own brands or any other."
SYSCO's Quality Assurance team of 180 food professionals has been developing the program for the past year. It will focus on two areas:
1) A Third Party Good Agricultural Practices Audit and Harvest
Crew Audit will be extended to include not only SYSCO Brand
suppliers but every grower of ready-to-eat produce that SYSCO
distributes, whether processed or field-packed. This would
include, but not be limited to, lettuce, broccoli, celery,
tomatoes, grapes, herbs, green onions, bell peppers and
berries. It would not include orchard fruit, root crops, nuts
and other produce crops normally cooked prior to consumption,
such as potatoes, eggplant, asparagus, almonds, apples and
yellow onions.
2) The completed audits will be archived in a database managed
by Primuslabs.com. Each supplier and grower will link
their purchase and sale in the database, tracing it from the
field to SYSCO. Starting in January 2008, the database then
will provide an approved purchase list for SYSCO, by product,
indicating that the supplier is in compliance with the
requirement.
"We will continue to seek other opportunities to enhance and improve the quality of the food distribution network for our industry," Mr. Schnieders said.
SYSCO is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers that prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. For the fiscal year 2007, the company generated over $35 billion in sales. For more information about SYSCO visit www.sysco.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made herein are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They include statements regarding company performance and the potential for future success, competitive advantages from quality assurance programs, growth and improvement strategies, customer satisfaction, and product quality and safety. These statements involve risks and uncertainties and are based on management's current expectations and estimates; actual results may differ materially. Those risks and uncertainties that could impact these statements include risks that pertain to SYSCO's business, including the risks relating to the current economic and competitive environment; the risk of non-compliance by suppliers or growers; the risk of interruption of supplies due to lack of long-term contracts, severe weather, work stoppages or otherwise; competitive conditions; labor issues; management's allocation of capital and the timing of capital purchases; and internal factors such as the ability to successfully execute growth and improvement strategies. For a discussion of additional factors that could cause actual results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements, see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.