Has anyone had any experiences with sysco? Today two reps came in with their sales pitch. Currently I am using US foods. If anyone has used sysco, what have been your experiences with them? Currently US foods has about 3/4 of the market here.
I used 2 b a Sysco luver…but I hate the house in Fla…the US Foods in NC is a former PYA/Monarch house & I’m sure not half bad…USF is the #2 guy nationwide…products are similar, but the cheese won’t be the same…
I used 2 prefer Bigger Bros., but don’t know their pizza strength these days…or if they’re still in biz…
if yer happy w/USF - stay there…
dont do it…they will lowball you and then jack it up…they can not touch USFood for prices
I’ve heard nothing but bad things about them through other sources. THanks, I just wanted to get the opinions of some of my colleagues on here.
I’m pretty sure they have a 15 piece minimum. It’s hard for the small guys. Sysco is like the Walmart of food delivery…need I say more?
here in western new york, sysco and us foods are both horrible i left them behind for an independent that keeps us happy all the way around
They have protected territories, so when we got hosed over and over and over and over and over by our Sysco rep, we had no choice but to change vendors. Our business skyrocketed the day we did it. Prices went down 18%, and our rep actually calls us to talk to us . . . and samples food to us that fits into apizzeria rather than a taco hut.
I use both Sysco and US foods. Most times I play them against each other. I also use Mivila who is on Long Island. They are crucial because I can send a driver to pick up one bag of flour if I need it. Good luck getting that kind of service with the big guys! For the most part I’ve been happy with both Sysco and US
I’m also a big fan for the independent. The local company i use will bend over backwards for me. If they are out of an item, they bring it within a few days. I can even skip paying a week if needed. Never did though.
If you do decide to use one of the big companies, see if you can get some locked in prices. They tend to lowball you in the beginning, and raise you in the near future.
If you do a search on Sysco you will find this same discussion from about 6 months ago. I think the general agreement was stay away from them. Here is the link.
http://www.pmq.com/tt/viewtopic.php?t=1 … ight=sysco
Sysco is “one” of our vendors. They will jack the price given the chance. We left US Foods for them because our rep at US Foods was non-responsive.
You will get better service and prices from the smaller guys but not the breath of products. Our Sysco rep is actually very responsive but prices have to be watched.
I used to be with a large seafood chain many years ago, sysco was the provider( set corporate prices, so they say ). I could go it to a store and find many prices were in line, but then say parchment paper ( also used alot ) was being sold at twice the price! yea sysco will stick it too anyone and everyone.
I have been using Sysco for over 10 years now and I am very content with them. I have a super saleman that gives me both great service and pricing(I do check around occassionally to be sure). I asked him why it seems that the consensus is against Sysco on this site and he said it might be because Cleveland has an Italian Division that caters to pizza. Many of the other Sysco houses use their regular street salesmen and really don’t do a very good job. I have no idea if he is right. I only know that I am very happy. My salesman takes care of me and that’s all I can ask. When I have a big catering job they even give me a truck to use for storage since I am short on refrigeration. If I run short, all I have to do is call and either my salesman or the Head of the Italian Division brings it to me. I am fair with them and they treat me great. If my salesman ever quits, who knows then, but for not I’m happy.
The rep we dealt with before bailing ship was very intent on larger, more lucrative accounts. We didn’t buy enough groceries every week to be worth his time. He stopped just barely short of telling us that. I know reps have different philosophies and effectiveness. Had he courted me, he would manage twice the sales volume I had with him in the beginning, and more on the way this year . . . . and would have had 6 direct referrals that turned into steady customers over the last 2 years.
I had the same kind of deal happen but the guy actually said either buy more or buy less often. I told him goodbye.
remember, I’m no longer a Sysco fan…but lets look @ this regarding ALL our distributors…and keep in mind the caller 2 your shop, looking for a “deal” on a 12" pizza, delivered as quick as possible, of course!
Say you order $500 worth of goods…Chances are the “landed” costs will be 75% to the distributor, or the will “gross” $125 on your order
Now, the salesman might get 3% commission…
The “delivery” cost is averaged out to $75…
So…add it all up, the distributor gets $35 or 7% profit on your order…
This is one reason good salesmen concentrate on getting more than $500 drop and a good salesman will “play” the price game, if you play the “give me more” business game…
Is it more profitable for you 2 deliver that 12" pizza, once/week or a big 100 pie order…
Its a delicate balance for both parties…
If I could do the shear volume that they do, I’d run a 7% margin as well 
Point made about their need to be profitable. We also all face market pressures to provide same goods at lower pricing and increased service mentality. They in turn get that pressure from us, and they pressure their suppliers.
its not so much that they “pressure” their suppliers for better prices (many of them pay “slotting” fees just 2 get their product in the distributor pipeline) they also face shareholder expectations…
Grocery companies make only pennies on the dollar (like our distributors) and they do indeed benefit greatly from the “economies of scale”…
seems like more bad than good. Well, at least I can use this to my advantage and get some better prices from US foods, Sysco is supposed to get me prices on the crap I use, so we’ll see how low they go, then how low US foods will go. I have no intention of actually switching but, i would love lower prices.
For those of you in the south… look into IJ foods… they are alot better than sysco and Us… they offer a good selection at a lot lower cost.