US Foods

Last updated
US Foods Holding Corp.
Company type Public company
Industry Food industry
FoundedAugust 1, 1989;36 years ago (1989-08-01)
Headquarters,
U.S.
Area served
Continental U.S.
Key people
David E. Flitman, CEO
Dirk J. Locascio, CFO
Products Prepackaged meals and frozen foods, fresh produce
Services Foodservice distributor
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$37.877 billion (2024)
Increase2.svg US$1.099 billion (2024)
Decrease2.svg US$494 million (2024)
Total assets Increase2.svg US$13.436 billion (2024)
Total equity Decrease2.svg US$4.528 billion (2024)
Number of employees
30,000 (2024)
Website www.usfoods.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

US Foods Holding Corp. (formerly known as U.S. Food service) is an American food service distributor. It is the second-largest food service distributor in the U.S., after Sysco. The company supplies 250,000 locations including independent restaurants, chain restaurants, healthcare, hospitality, and educational institutions. [1]

Contents

In 2024, 34% of revenues came from meats and seafoods, 17% of revenues came from dry grocery products, 17% of revenue came from refrigerated and frozen grocery products, 11% of revenues came from dairy, 9% of revenues came from supplies, 6% of revenues came from produce, and 6% of revenues came from beverages. [1]

The company is ranked the 122nd on the Fortune 500 [2] and 1127th on the Forbes Global 2000. [3]

History

Early history

The company traces its roots to John Sexton & Company, founded in 1883. It was one of the first food distributors to develop a national sales force and distribution network, first with a horse and wagon, and after 1924, with a diesel truck fleet. [4]

In 1968, John Sexton & Co. was purchased by Beatrice Foods for $37.5 million. [5]

In the 1970s, the Pearce-Young-Angel Company (PYA) merged with Monarch Foods, then owned by Consolidated Foods Corporation (the precursor of Sara Lee). [4]

In 1983, S.E. Rykoff merged with Sexton to become Rykoff-Sexton. [4] [6] [7]

In the late 1980s, Sara Lee completed the corporate spin-off of its northeastern and mid-Atlantic portions of the company to management in a leveraged buyout, forming JP Foodservice. [4] [8]

In 1996, JP Foodservice acquired the remaining portion of PYA/Monarch. [4]

In 1992, United Signature Foods Inc. was created. United Signature Foods Inc. After a series of mergers and buyouts between Rycoff-Sexton and US Foodservice and finally JP Foodservice, the company became a nationwide distributor. [4]

1990s

In November 1994, the company adopted the name JP Foodservice, Inc. and became a public company via an initial public offering. Sara Lee Corporation then held 37% of JP common stock. The public offering raised $80 million, and JP restructured and paid off much of its debt. [9] [10]

Toward the end of 1995, the company and its former parent, Sara Lee Corporation, began talks about exchanging PYA/Monarch, Sara Lee's southeastern foodservice subsidiary, for JP stock worth about $946 million. [8] Yet, the two companies failed to reach agreement on several factors, including valuation (JP's stock price had gone up in expectation of the merger), structure, and dilution of earnings to existing shareholders, and the deal fell through in February 1996. The experience left both sides bitter, and JP was expected to find a way to reduce Sara Lee's presence or end its investment in the company all together. [9]

In late 1996, Sara Lee sold its remaining stake in JP Foodservice. [11]

In February 2000, U.S. Foodservice acquired Stock Yards Packing. [12]

In April 2000, Ahold acquired US Foodservice for $3.6 billion. [13]

In December 2000, U.S. Foodservice acquired PYA/Monarch for $1.57 billion. [14]

In 2007, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired the company for $7.1 billion. [15]

2010s - present

In August 2010, John A. Lederer was appointed president and chief executive officer. [16] [17]

In September 2011, U.S. Foodservice announced its name change to US Foods, Inc. (styled as "US. Foods" in the new logo unveiled at the same time). [18] [19]

In December 2013, Sysco agreed to acquire US Foods for $8.2 billion but the merger was terminated in 2015 after failure to get regulatory approval due to antitrust concerns. [20] [21] [22]

In November 2022, Dave Flitman was named chief executive officer of the company. [23]

Acquisitions

#YearCompanyDescriptionRef(s).
1October 2010Nino's WholesaleItalian foods distributor to pizzerias, fine Italian restaurants, and gourmet shops in South Florida [24]
2February 2011Midway ProduceProduce distributor in central Indiana [25]
3April 2011WVO IndustriesWaste vegetable oil processor [26]
4April 2011Ritter Food ServiceSpecialty distributor of poultry, meats and seafood [27]
5May 2011Great Western MeatsFoodservice distributor and provider of fresh-cut portion meats in Central Florida [28]
6June 2011White Apron's Distribution BusinessSupplier and processor of premium fresh meats based in Brea, Calif [29]
7July 2011Vesuvio FoodsItalian foods for pizzerias, fine Italian restaurants and gourmet shops in metro New York [30]
8June 2012New City PackingSupplier of steaks and fresh-cut portion meats to restaurants [31]
9October 2013Quandt's FoodserviceFoodservice distributor in Eastern New York and portions of Western New England [32]
10December 2015Dierks WaukeshaRegional distributor in Wisconsin [33]
11February 2016Carra DonnaWholesale distributor serving New England [34]
12May 2016Freshway FoodsProduce supplier; sold in 2025 [35] [36]
13October 2016Jeraci FoodsDistributor of specialty Italian foods based in Elmsford, New York [37]
14October 2016Save On SeafoodProcessor and distributor in St. Petersburg, Florida [38]
15February 2017All American FoodsDistributor in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut [39]
16April 2017FirstClass FoodsMeat manufacturing company based in Hawthorne, California [40]
17June 2017F. ChristianaDistributor in Louisiana, Southern Mississippi and Southern Alabama [41]
18July 2017TOBA Inc. distribution companiesDistributor in seven states in the Midwestern United States [42]
19January 2018SRA FoodsMeat processor and distributor in Birmingham, Alabama [43]
20September 2019SGA Food GroupPrice was $1.8 billion [44]
21March 2020Smart Foodservice Warehouse Stores (now US Foods Chef'Store)Price was $970 million [45]
22May 2023Renzi FoodserviceDistributor in central upstate New York [46]
23November 2023Saladino's FoodserviceBroadline distributor in California [47]
24February 2024IWC Food ServiceBroadline distributor based in Cookeville, Tennessee [48]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "US Foods Holding Corp. 2024 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 19, 2025.
  2. "Fortune 500: US Foods". Fortune.
  3. "Forbes: US Foods". Forbes.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History" (PDF). US Foods.
  5. Gazel, Neil (1990). Beatrice: From Buildup to Breakup. University of Illinois Press.
  6. "Beatrice to Sell John Sexton Unit" . The New York Times . Associated Press. September 28, 1983.
  7. "Rykoff-Sexton Match Pays Off But L.A. Firm's Smaller Acquisitions Less Successful". Los Angeles Times . December 23, 1985.
  8. 1 2 Faiola, Anthony (December 2, 1995). "JP FOODSERVICE IN TALKS TO MERGE WITH SARA LEE UNIT" . The Washington Post .
  9. 1 2 "JP Foodservice Rejects Deal With Sarah Lee". The New York Times . Bloomberg News. February 20, 1996.
  10. Hancock, Jay (November 22, 1994). "JP Foodservice recapitalizes, issues stock". The Baltimore Sun .
  11. "SARA LEE MAY BE COOKING UP SALE". Chicago Tribune . October 1, 1996.
  12. "U.S. Foodservice buys Stock Yards Packing Co..." The Baltimore Sun . February 28, 2000.
  13. Hedgpeth, Dana (March 7, 2000). "Royal Ahold to Acquire U.S. Foodservice of Md". The Washington Post .
  14. "Ahold U.S. Foodservice completes acquisition of PYA/Monarch" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. December 5, 2000.
  15. "Ahold sells U.S. unit to 2 firms for $7.1 billion" . The New York Times . May 2, 2007.
  16. "John Lederer named c.e.o. of U.S. Foodservice". Meat Poultry. August 13, 2010.
  17. "John Lederer, President and CEO of US Foods, Elected to Walgreens Boots Alliance Board of Directors" (Press release). Walgreens Boots Alliance. 2015.
  18. Yue, Lorene (September 26, 2011). "U.S. Foodservice changes name to U.S. Foods" . Crain Communications .
  19. "Form S4". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. December 28, 2012.
  20. "Sysco to buy US Foods for $8.2 bln including debt". Reuters . December 9, 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
  21. "Sysco Cancels $8.2 Billion US Foods Takeover In Big Antitrust Win For FTC". Forbes . June 29, 2015.
  22. "Sysco Terminates Merger Agreement with US Foods" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. June 29, 2015.
  23. Sophia, Deborah (November 28, 2022). Ganguli, Shinjini (ed.). "US Foods names Flitman CEO". Reuters .
  24. "US Foodservice acquires Nino's Wholesale operations". Fleet Owner. October 28, 2010.
  25. "US Foodservice acquires Midway Produce". Fleet Owner. February 23, 2011.
  26. "US Foodservice acquires WVO waste vegetable oil operation". Fleet Owner. April 12, 2011.
  27. "U.S. Foodservice Acquires Ritter Food Service, Leading Supplier of Premium Poultry, Meat and Seafood" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. April 18, 2011.
  28. "U.S. Foodservice Acquires Great Western Meats, Inc" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. May 23, 2011.
  29. "U.S. Foodservice Acquires White Apron's Distribution Business" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. June 2, 2011.
  30. "U.S. Foodservice Acquires Vesuvio Foods, Leading Distributor to Metro NY Italian Restaurants" (Press release). GlobeNewswire. July 22, 2011.
  31. "US Foods purchases New City Packing Co". Fleet Owner. June 5, 2012.
  32. Nearing, Brian (October 21, 2013). "US Foods buys firm". Times Union .
  33. Maze, Jonathan (December 18, 2015). "US Foods buys Dierks Waukesha". Nation's Restaurant News .
  34. "US Foods to acquire Cara Donna". Meat+Poultry. February 29, 2016.
  35. "US Foods agrees to acquire Freshway Foods". Reuters . May 19, 2016.
  36. "Red Arts Capital Announces Acquisition of Freshway Foods" (Press release). Business Wire. March 13, 2025.
  37. "US Foods to acquire Jeraci Foods". Meat+Poultry. October 3, 2016.
  38. "US Foods agrees to acquire Save On Seafood". Reuters . October 19, 2016.
  39. "US Foods to acquire All American Foods". Meat+Poultry. February 15, 2017.
  40. Schouten, Rebekah (April 24, 2017). "US Foods to acquire FirstClass Foods". Food Business News.
  41. Maze, Jonathan (June 5, 2017). "US Foods acquires another distributor". Nation's Restaurant News .
  42. "US Foods agrees to acquire TOBA Inc. distribution companies". Reuters . July 14, 2017.
  43. Taylor, Natalie (January 1, 2018). "US Foods Agrees to Acquire SRA Foods". Informa .
  44. Dawson, Gloria (September 12, 2019). "US Foods approved to acquire SGA's Food Group of companies". Nation's Restaurant News .
  45. Redman, Russell (March 6, 2020). "Smart Foodservice Warehouse Stores to be acquired by US Foods for $970 million". Informa .
  46. Avila, Larry (May 25, 2023). "US Foods to purchase Renzi Foodservice". Industry Dive .
  47. "US Foods Acquires California-Based Saladino's Foodservice". FSR Magazine. November 8, 2023.
  48. Goldschmidt, Bridget (February 15, 2024). "US Foods Acquiring IWC Food Service". Progressive Grocer.