Sysco Corporation plans to open new facility in Cypress
HOUSTON (March 8, 2010)—Sysco Corporation has purchased the former Hewlett-Packard call center at 24500 Hwy. 290 in Cypress to create a shared services facility for its North American distribution centers.

Tomatoes Get Sliced From Menus
(March 8, 2010)—A shortage of tomatoes from weather-battered Florida is forcing restaurants and supermarkets to ration supplies amid soaring prices. 

Chilean Earthquake's Tremors May Be Felt in American Consumers' Stomachs
(March 5, 2010 - Daily Finance)—After Chile's 8.8-scale earthquake on Saturday, one big unknown is the disaster's likely impact on U.S. consumers. Chile is Latin America's largest economy, and the U.S. its biggest export market. The country is a major supplier of our wine, fruit and seafood, and supermarkets this time of year are stocked with Chilean grapes and salmon (although interestingly, Chilean sea bass is neither Chilean nor bass).
By Jonathan Berr

Salmonella prompts processed-food recall
(March 5, 2010)—Thousands of types of processed foods—including many varieties of soups, chips, frozen dinners, hot dogs and salad dressings—may pose a health threat because they contain a flavor enhancer that could be contaminated with salmonella, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Blount fine foods breaks ground on major plant expansion
FALL RIVER, MASS. (March 4, 2010)—Blount Fine Foods, a leading manufacturer of hand-crafted artesian soups and seafood products, today broke ground on a 58,000 square foot expansion to its Fall River, Mass. headquarters.  The expansion makes room for more production space, the installation of a large soup chiller, new soup fillers and improved packaging capabilities.  Blount will also be building new cold processing rooms to expand its entrance into the dip, spread and salad business.

Sysco Corporation Commissions Expansion of British Columbia Distribution Center
SUGAR LAND, TX (March 4, 2010 - Marketwire)—Researched by Industrial Info Resources—Sysco Food Service of Vancouver Incorporated, a subsidiary of leading distributor of food-service products SYSCO Corporation, is commissioning an expansion at its refrigerated food distribution center in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Groundbreaking took place last summer, and distribution operations are expected to begin at the expanded facility in early spring of this year.

New Year’s Resolutions for Foodservice Distributor Owners
As we start the new year, I can think of no better time to identify your company’s key priorities for 2010 and make a few key personal resolutions that improve your business, your management team, and your relationship with your customers. As you read and analyze your year-end reports from 2009, look for opportunities as well as potential threats to your business.

By Bill Beattie

A Better Market for Business Sellers at the Close of 2009
by Bill Beattie

Because of Keiter Stephens Advisors’ vantage point facilitating foodservice distribution mergers and acquisitions – we’ve represented more transactions in the past 3 years than any other advisor – we’ve been asked to present our perspective on transaction activity in 2009.

As KSA did a year ago, we’re going to start this column with an overview of the mindset of potential buyers.

Finding Hidden Value When Preparing Your Company for Sale
If you are thinking about selling your company and revenues have been down, you may think your business has lost value. That logic is not always true, however, particularly considering the impact of recent deflation in food prices.  Smart buyers are interested in many factors in addition to your sales trends.

Selling Your Company: Options for Distressed Foodservice Distributors
By Bill Beattie
In this column, we consider the options for owners of foodservice distribution companies that are experiencing financial distress. Over the past year, we have encounterd an increasing number of owners who have been in denial regarding the severity of their situations – and as a result, many failed to take the necessary actions in the early stages.

SYSTEM SELECTION: "CONSULTANTS" TO AVOID
By Dick Friedman

    Wall Street isn't the only place where scammers operate. Some so called consultants who say they can select the right system can do worse than take a distributor's money without providing value. They can select a system that destroys the company, as has happened at least twice in 2008. Or they can select a system that is so unsuitable that it gets tossed or never fully implemented, as has happened several times in ’08 and ’09. Whether the system being sought is an ERP, WMS (warehouse management system) or anything else, here are some ways for determining which consultants to avoid; and be inference, which to use.