sysco food service stomps on the little guy!

Nothing surprises me about Sysco stories....."business ethics" isn't in their vocabulary! The good news is that they did you a favor because now you will find that you can buy the same product or better from other places like Sam's, Costco, etc. in quantities that better suit your usage or cash flow. It's a pain in the ass to have to go shop at the end of a long day but it's worth it in terms of having a quality product that you picked out instead of some faceless warehouse employee that doesn't give a damn about you or your business.
CB

I don't know where you are located but find a local independent distributor in your area. They will not only appreciate your business but chances are you will get a better deal.

Do you have Halsey in your area? Sysco did the same thing to me and another guy I know and he told them to shove it. He was getting ready for Talladega and they pulled this crap.. Halsey provides me almost everything that I need in a concession trailer. Butts, ribs, ckns and the 4 sides I serve...they really wanted my business... my .02

Hey coffeebluff,

I understand your frustration. On the other hand, I'm sure you realize that many of the food reps work solely on commission. Also, it expensive for them to have that truck and that driver come to your place of business on delivery day. If they are only selling you thier lowest margin items, they might not be making any money on your account.(or maybe not "enough" money to make it worth their while)

Before you accuse me of being a shill for Sysco, I do have a few thoughts that may or may not be of help to you. First, I do order from Sysco occasionally, but dropped them as a major supplier about a year ago. I order almost exclusively from one supplier right now, and they have considerably reduced their prices in exchange for that.

You DO have to be careful wtih this approach, becuase I'm sure you've had distributors "low-ball" you to get your business. Then, once you've come to rely on them, they jack up your prices. The way to combat this is to keep shopping the other distributors for their prices. When I find a significantly lower price on something, I go to my rep, and ask him what he can do. He will usually work with me. While I do shop occasionally at Sam's, I don't normally hit him with Sam's price differences, because I'm willing to pay a little extra to have products deliver to my back door. I figure the more time I spend shopping at Sam's the less time I'm spending having contact with my guests.

Also, I find "working" with my rep to be of help. I'm not gonna bug him if I find that "X" supplier can sell me cans of jalapenos for 20 cents less a can. On the other hand, when my supplier wanted 40 cents a pound more than Sysco for brisket last week, I definately brought it to his attention. He told me he couldn't match it that week, and to go ahead and order it from Sysco. He also said he'd talk to the buyers and find out the reason for the price discrepancy. This week, he was lower than Sysco.

I've kind of rambled on here, but I guess my point is find a rep with a company that you like and trust, and I wouldn't advise cherry-picking them to death. I would advise keeping them honest by checking around though.

One final note, I would not deal with Sysco at all in your situation. It's one thing to drop you as a customer, its a whole other thing entirely to do it without any prior notice! A call to your rep's supervisor, or the supervisor's supervisor would certainly not be unwarranted. I'm sure BS like that leaves a dirty taste in your mouth as far as ever dealing with them again. The fact that they would leave a restaurant "high and dry" like that will certainly by on my mind the next time our Sysco rep tries to regain the business we pulled from him.

thanks, matt. yea, i talked to sysco big boys on 2 levels above my rep. they both supported the rep's b.s. claiming its a company wide move to make sysco more profitable. for me, its not just about the prices, lord knows i bought some things from sysco at a much higher rate. like ribs. i found the brand that i like, and it cost me .70 cents a pound more but well worth it. and fish. i paid double for sysco brand of pollock fillets, but they were awesome. and "herschel walkers famous 34 chicken strips". sysco is the only distributor for this item, which brought in 2k a month for me in revenue. plus his name is all over my t.v. ads which i have sunk nearly 16k into. now when folks come out to get them(since i was the only place in savannah that served them), they will be dissapointed. i have already talked to herschel's bro, but havent herd anything back yet.
its just that so many of the sysco items i used were more because of the brand, not the price. same goes for the items that i did not use from sysco. like breaded okra. u.s. has the best in the world, and i use 50 pounds of it a week. although i love my u.s. rep, his replacement brands for my lost sysco items will in no way replace the quality.
the main thing is like you said.....they left me high and dry! not even a one minute notice!!
hey, i ordered 500 dollars a week from sysco. i know that to them its not even a drop of water on the warehouse floor, but its about commitment, diginity and honor. i have been using these same items from them for over 18 months. not a single word of despair from them. no apology, no chance to stock up, nada! that is no way to treat a customer.

coffee, can you find someone near you that does use Sysco for there main supplier and get with them to order the chicken strips?

While I was working as a sous chef for aramark in jacksonville I noticed that sysco would creep their invoice prices about 1/2% a month and promised myself that if I ever was in a position to do it sysco wouldn't be allowed to step foot on the property. I later got a position in a conference center and my exec tried to order lentils. sysco rep said they didn't have them. At last it was my turn and the exec chef let me cut loose on him. I advised the rep that 1 week prior I had received them from sysco while working for aramark and then whammyed him for rebate on 1/2% overcharge on invoicing (exec never noticed it before and i got a nice raise for being the one to see it). My dream came true and sysco was thrown off property and we dealt solely with beaver street foods. fine people they were but sysco bought them out a year later and said we had to deal with them. Told them no way we are using u.s. foods and to this day I highly recommend them. At NBBQA Atlanta their rep was there and said u.s. foods still want the business of the small guy so give them a try

I almost know how you must feel, I would be burning mad too. We also used Sysco for over 20 years! I finally came onto their game when I started keeping tabs on their prices. I noticed that one of our food suppliers very rarely went up on items and that Sysco jumped up and down (mostly up). Of course our rep gave us a song and dance about the prices and then he really made us mad over something. A soon as a U.S. Foodservice Rep. approached me the first question out of my mouth was "How consistant are your prices?" . So we dropped Sysco almost immediatly ( I think our Sysco rep might have cried ...lol) and have never been happier. I love our U.S. guy and wouldn't trade him in the world. He used to be in the restraunt business and he has SO much knowledge to offer us , it was the best move we ever made. The bad part is though, you really don't realize how much you are getting screwed by NOT shopping around and comparing prices and products. Good luck and keep us posted on how it turns out.

Michelle

well, my choices are limited here. i now use u.s. foods, and sams. even kroger, for some items.
like bleach; i never could understand why the big boys charge so much for it when you can get it for .79 cents a gal at grocery store. yep, it sure does pay to shop around. i did try other restaurants in the area to see if they would bring in the herschel strips for us, but its just too much hassle for anyone. they have to literal change their booking techniques to justify the invoicing. this i do understand and have no hard feelings about. so, when someone ask for herschel strips, we have posted his address and phone number for them to call and complain. now thats passing the buck...haha! all else will be fine with some recepie changes, advertising changes, and menu changes. thansk to all for their inputs.

Michelle,
please tell me you got to see the sysco guy cry!!!
like tony bourdain says in kitchen confidential a damn good sous chef has the heart of lion and the mind of a pirate!!!
you are aces in my book

I showed the Sysco rep the door. He tried to tell me Chicken was going up and months later it is still the same price at Sam's. Sysco was full of BS and wanted 25% more than I buy my supplies for. The reason we did not give Sysco any money was last year FSA was a near disaster. We are up in the Seattle area and have Costco, Sam's and Cash n' Carry for a great selection. For many staples Sysco/FSA does not even carry the quality bulk brands that Sam's carries and I care about quality.

I got rid of Sysco at my restaurant 4 years ago. I have a local company 10 miles up the road from me that works with me. Infact, the owner of thr company sneaks in to eat at lest once a month.

It's a sad day when a company tells you it doesn't want to do business with you. It seems that they have forgotten that they are there to provide a service/product to you the customer. Just wait a while though and especially if you are successful, there will be a knock on the door and some green, newbie sysco rep will be there to promise you the moon. From recent experience though I would recommend that you take the high road and be civil. The trend is toward mergers and buyouts and you never know when you may be in a position in which you have to deal with them again.

Sysco seems to mess with everyone, even the vendors. I have sold nearly every Sysco house in my 25 year career, and it's always the same; Sysco makes the money and the venders and customers get screwed! As a vender, you basically have to BUY the business through promotions and sales incentives. If you don't caugh up more than the next guy, you don't get in!! If you decide to take the plunge and BUY your way in, it just gets worse every year thereafter. You are required to spend so much money, that your profit margin dwindles to nothing. Even after you pay all these "spifs", you still have to be the cheapest guy on the block. It is nearly impossible to make money as a Sysco vendor! Now I'm on the other side as a former Sysco customer. Even knowing what I know as a vender, I gave Sysco a try as a customer. I have a new business and thought it would be easier to get everything from one source. THEY NEARLY BANKRUPTED ME with all their minimum requirments. If I did'nt order enough, they would simply stick something on my order to make the minimum. That's what I call CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!
They know better than I how to spend my money!
Our relationship was shortlived because I started buying from other vendors I've been associated with over the years. I was soon dropped. My rep did not even have the courtesy to call. Goodbye and good riddence Sysco!

Hello, I own a small old fashioned Meat Market in Highland, New York. Been dealing with Sysco for over three years. They suck. I have thrown them out several time only to find one of the sales managers coming in to cover up for there reps mistakes. Last week they were delivering to a restaurant right accross the street from my store. I mean only the width of the road away. The driver said, that I had to come accross and pick up the order because i missed the minimum 500.00. Within minutes I was on the phone with the transportation supervisor and told him that either your driver walks accross the street with my order or you can cancel my account. And that meat order from X-mas week that I haven't paid for yet might be a little bit late.
So far soo good! Lets see how long they last.
Eliasmarket@aol.com

IF the chicken strips are a main income maker for you is there a way you can do a will-call pick-up from them. I do that with Shammrock for my catering company.

I am more and more pleased with my US Foodservice rep here in the Cleveland area, Bill Smith. He has been a great support, and given that I pick up my orders to save what I can right now, he is good to lend me Mondays price changes for my ribs, and butts. US Foods staff has been great at advice, assistance, and just plain ol good folks! I just hope that I can grow to a point that will make their investment in me worth it to them!

We're using St. Johns Foods in St. Augustine. I like supporting local business. Jack absolutely hates business dealings with Sysco. We talked to U.S. Foodservice and they were very nice. I would try them if you don't have a local service that satisfies you.
Peggy