HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY) announced today that Sysco Food Services of New Orleans, LLC, its broadline distribution subsidiary located in Harahan, Louisiana, has reopened and has begun distributing products to the New Orleans foodservice market, with primary focus being the emergency relief shipments to aid workers, medical treatment facilities and evacuee shelters. The facility had been closed since August 30 due to Hurricane Katrina.
Kenneth F. Spitler, executive vice president of SYSCO and president of SYSCO's North American foodservice operations, said, "Our New Orleans facility escaped any significant structural damage and its backup generator allowed the inventory to remain intact. The operation established temporary headquarters in Baton Rouge and assisted in supplying products to the hurricane relief effort in the days following Katrina's destruction."
During the temporary closure of the New Orleans facility, SYSCO's Houston, Dallas and Central Alabama subsidiaries serviced those customers in the outlying New Orleans market that remained open.
"SYSCO's first priority is the safety and well-being of our associates," continued Mr. Spitler. "We have been in contact with 430 of the 435 associates who are employed at our New Orleans operation, and nearly 300 of those employees are currently working at other SYSCO companies. I am very proud of the resiliency shown by our New Orleans associates and the generosity our entire SYSCO family has conveyed as we recover from this tragic event."
Mr. Spitler added that SYSCO's Jackson, Mississippi operation was also temporarily shut down due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The company returned to normal distribution levels immediately after the storm passed through the region and experienced an increase in product demand due to SYSCO's assistance in providing meals to the evacuees and relief workers.
"We are also supporting the Red Cross relief efforts in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast through our partnership with them by supplying products from our companies all over the country," continued Mr. Spitler. "In addition to significant and in-kind financial donations, we recently refurbished three trailers as self-contained mobile kitchens to be used by the Red Cross. The first of these trailers is currently stationed in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and is serving approximately 9,000 hot meals each day to displaced citizens."
Sysco Food Services of New Orleans, LLC markets and distributes a complete line of food and related products to restaurants, country clubs, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments, business and industry locations, multi-unit chain accounts and other foodservice customers throughout Louisiana.
SYSCO, the largest foodservice marketing and distribution organization in North America, provides food and related products and services to approximately 390,000 restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other foodservice customers, generating sales of $30.3 billion for the fiscal year 2005 that ended July 2, 2005. SYSCO's operations, supported by approximately 44,000 associates, are located throughout the United States and Canada and include broadline foodservice distribution companies, specialty produce and custom-cut meat operations, Asian cuisine foodservice distributors, hotel supply operations and chain restaurant distribution subsidiaries. For more information about SYSCO, visit www.sysco.com.
The SYSCO Corporation logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=747