Sysco Corporation is an American multinational corporation involved in marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hospitality businesses like hotels and inns, and wholesale to other companies that provide foodservice (like Aramark and Sodexo). The company is headquartered in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas.Sysco, an acronym for Systems and Services Company, is the world's largest broadline food distributor; it has more than 600,000 clients in a wide array of fields. Management consulting is also an integral part of their services. The company operates approximately 330 distribution facilities worldwide; providing service to over 90 countries.
The company was founded by Herbert Irving, John F. Baugh and Harry Rosenthal in 1969. The company became public on March 3, 1970. On July 20, 2009, Fortune magazine ranked Sysco No. 204 in the annual Fortune 500 companies in world based on sales volume. On May 3, 2010, Fortune ranked Sysco as the 7th largest Fortune 500 Company in Texas and 55th largest in the U.S. by total revenue. Sysco is also the largest non-oil related company in Houston and the third largest non-tech related company in Texas (behind AT&T and Dell). The company ranked No. 54 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.In December 2013, Sysco announced an $8.2 billion planned acquisition of its next-largest food distribution rival, US Foods. The Federal Trade Commission challenged the acquisition as a violation of the Clayton Antitrust Act that would substantially lessen competition. The court ruled that the combined company would likely reduce competition because it would control 75% of the U.S. food service industry, Sysco terminated its merger with US Foods. As of 2018, its current ceo is Tom Bené.