Sysco Corporation

Is Sysco publicly traded?
Yes. Sysco Corporation trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker SYY and has since March 1970.

When was Sysco founded?
In 1969, by merging nine regional food distributors. Founding CEO John Baugh organized the combination in Houston.

What does Sysco do?
It is the world's largest distributor of food and supplies to the food-away-from-home industry, serving about 730,000 restaurants, hospitals, schools, and hotels.

Why didn't Sysco buy US Foods?
It agreed to in 2013, but the FTC sued, a federal court blocked the merger in 2015, and Sysco paid a $300 million termination fee.

How big is Sysco?
$81.4 billion in fiscal 2025 sales, approximately 76,000 employees, and about 340 distribution facilities.

Who is the CEO of Sysco?
Kevin Hourican, who became CEO in 2020, is chair of the board and chief executive officer.

Sysco was formed in 1969 when John Baugh, who ran Zero Foods, a Houston frozen food distributor, persuaded eight other regional distributors to combine into a single company. The founding insight was that national restaurant chains needed a supplier with national reach. The nine companies' stockholders exchanged their shares for Sysco stock, and the company listed on the NYSE in March 1970, just months after formation.

The 1970s through the 1990s were decades of roll-up growth. Sysco acquired regional distributors market by market, built a national warehouse network, and added specialty businesses: produce through FreshPoint, meat through Buckhead Beef and Newport Meat, chain logistics through SYGMA, and lodging supplies through Guest Supply. By the turn of the century it was unambiguously the industry's largest player.

The defining strategic event of the modern era was the failed acquisition of US Foods. Announced in 2013 at $3.5 billion plus assumed debt, the merger would have combined the industry's top two distributors. The FTC sued in February 2015, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction, and Sysco abandoned the deal that June, paying US Foods a $300 million termination fee. The outcome effectively foreclosed mega-mergers in US foodservice distribution.

Sysco pivoted to international growth, buying UK-based Brakes Group in 2016 for about $3.1 billion, its largest completed acquisition. Kevin Hourican, formerly of CVS, became CEO in 2020, weeks before the pandemic collapsed restaurant volumes. His tenure rebuilt the supply chain, expanded distribution capacity, and pushed digital ordering and pricing tools. The company exited fiscal 2025 with record sales, a growing international segment that posted seven straight quarters of double-digit operating income growth, and a 2026 outlook centered on five internal initiatives: Perks 2.0, AI360, Price Agility, Sysco Your Way, and Total Team Selling.

Sysco publishes an annual sustainability report and has adopted science-based emissions targets covering its fleet, facilities, and supply chain. Programs include electric and alternative-fuel truck pilots, solar installations at distribution centers, sustainable seafood sourcing aligned with the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative, RSPO-aligned palm oil for private label goods, and animal welfare commitments for its protein supply chain.

Food waste reduction is a stated priority, with donations routed through hunger relief partners. Its commitments are self-reported; the company is not a B Corp.

Sysco is a perennial Fortune 500 member, consistently ranking among the largest US corporations by revenue, and appears on Fortune's Most Admired Companies list in the wholesaler category. Its Dividend Aristocrat membership, 56 consecutive annual increases, is itself a form of third-party recognition of earnings durability.

The landmark regulatory event remains the FTC's 2015 block of the US Foods merger, the defining antitrust action in foodservice distribution history. It established that even modestly concentrated markets would face strict scrutiny for the top two players.

Operationally, the company manages ongoing food safety obligations: periodic FDA and USDA recalls across private label and distributed products, handled through standard protocols. It has also faced wage-and-hour and driver classification litigation common to large trucking employers, and pricing scrutiny from restaurant customers during the inflationary 2021 to 2023 period. None of these has produced an unresolved material liability as of November 2026.