Foodservice distribution specialist Sysco Corporation has entered into an agreement with the Cincinnati, Ohio-headquartered Kroger Co. to provide temporary work opportunities for a number of its employees at certain Kroger distribution centers.
Under this arrangement, Sysco personnel in the United States who have been temporarily furloughed due to the dramatic decline in foodservice demand from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will have the opportunity to work at Kroger locations for 30 days or more, as agreed upon by both companies.
“During these unprecedented times, we are pleased to partner with Kroger, as both of our companies work to respond in an agile manner to meet the rapidly evolving needs of our associates and our communities,” said Kevin Hourican, president and chief executive officer of Sysco. “This agreement will benefit many of Sysco’s associates by creating good work opportunities with a respected company, while at the same time helping to alleviate strain in the food supply chain due to a surge in demand at retail stores.”
Those who take advantage of this opportunity will remain employees of Sysco during the period of time they work at Kroger, with Sysco being responsible for providing the agreed upon compensation, as well as any other benefits associates typically receive.
Kroger has 2,758 retail grocery stores that conduct business under a variety of banner names. Its formats include supermarkets, warehouse stores, multi-department stores similar to supercenters, and online platforms. It is the only major US supermarket company to operate an economical three-tier distribution system.
Brakes and Bidfood Team Up in Crisis
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom Sysco’s Brakes Group foodservice distribution unit has joined forces with Bidfood and the British Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra) to manage the sourcing and distribution of food packages to vulnerable people in isolation during the coronavirus crisis.
“Moving at record pace, we have worked with government departments to create a service capable of reaching every corner of England, through our national depot networks. Our security-checked, professional delivery drivers are hugely motivated and proud to be playing their part in serving their local communities in this fantastic endeavor,” said Brakes CEO Hugo Mahoney and Bidfood CEO Andrew Selley in a joint statement.
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. With more than 69,000 employees, the Houston, Texas-headquartered company operates more than 320 distribution facilities worldwide and serves more than 650,000 customer locations. For fiscal 2019 that ended June 29, 2019, the company generated sales of more than $60 billion.
Brakes and Bidfest rank as the largest wholesale distributors of foodservice industry products in the United Kingdom.
