Sysco Corporation Lauds the Excellence of Its Top 2015 Suppliers

HOUSTON, Oct. 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) announced today nearly five dozen winners in its annual Sysco Supplier Excellence Awards, a program that recognizes partners who best meet the company's exacting standards.

The 2015 recipients were selected from more than 2,000 eligible suppliers located worldwide. Selection was based on key business performance metrics as evaluated by Sysco's Foodservice Companies and Sysco's Corporate Merchandising, Sourcing, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain departments. Honorees excelled at assisting Sysco with local business and chain sales growth, profitability, sales of Sysco-branded products, and support for its local operating companies.

"Every day at Sysco, our focus begins with the customer," said Tom Bené, executive vice president and president of foodservice operations at Sysco. "We appreciate the commitment from our suppliers across the numerous product categories in doing their part to help our customers succeed and to help us be our customers' most trusted and valued business partner. We are fortunate to have such exceptional partners who understand what it takes to ultimately delight diners across the footprint that Sysco serves."

Award recipients are categorized as Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in 13 categories. Chicago-based Alpha Baking Company, a Gold Award winner in the Bakery and Convenience category, was also selected as Sysco's Supplier of the Year. The Gold Award winners included:

Bakery & Convenience – Alpha Baking Company
Beef – IBP Tyson
Beverage – PepsiCo
Grocery Commodities – ConAgra Foodservice
Pork – Clemens Food Group
Poultry – Sanderson Farms
Seafood – Devi Foods
Canned Foods – Pacific Coast Producers
Dairy – Saputo Cheese USA
Disposables & Chemical – Ecolab, Inc.
Supplies & Equipment – SternoCandleLamp
Fruits, Vegetables & Potatoes – JR Simplot
Produce – Mann Packing

Additionally, several specialty category award winners were named. They included:

Heritage Award for Diversity – Slade Gorton of Boston, Mass., for meeting and exceeding Sysco's expectations set forth for minority, women-owned and diverse supplier partners;
Supply Chain Partner Award – Pactiv of Lake Forest, Ill., for collaborating with Sysco to improve Sysco's end-to-end supply chain including inbound purchase order fill rates, market freight rates, pick-up allowances and availability, and overall support and participation in Sysco Supply Chain initiatives;
Sustainability Award – Mastronardi Produce Ltd. of Kingsville, Ontario (Canada), for emphasizing the importance of a responsible supply chain to enhance Sysco's corporate social responsibility goals;
Cutting Edge Solutions Award for Innovation – Stratas Foods of Memphis, Tenn., for creating a unique, differentiated and exclusive product solution for Sysco customers; and
Emerging Supplier Award – Mountaire Farms of Millsboro, Del., for making dramatic changes in their partnership with Sysco to significantly increase volume and have a positive impact on customers.

Award winners in Sysco's Silver and Bronze categories are listed separately below.

About Sysco

Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. The company operates 196 distribution facilities serving approximately 425,000 customers. For Fiscal Year 2015 that ended June 27, 2015, the company generated sales of more than $48 billion. For more information, visit www.sysco.com or connect with Sysco on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SyscoCorporation or Twitter at https://twitter.com/Sysco. Important news regarding Sysco is available at www.sysco.com/investors. You can follow us at www.twitter.com/SyscoStock and download the Sysco IR App, available on the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Market. Investors are encouraged to read our news releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is possible that the information we disclose through any of these channels of distribution could be deemed to be material information.