HOUSTON, April 1, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY) today announced the completion of a 353,000-square-foot broadline foodservice distribution center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The new company, Sysco Foodservices of Knoxville, LLC, will initiate service on May 12, 2008 to an existing customer base in eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, southwestern Virginia and southeastern Kentucky. Customers in those market areas currently are being served by SYSCO facilities in Nashville, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, Charlotte, North Carolina, Harrisonburg, Virginia and Louisville, Kentucky.
Located on a 44-acre site at 900 Tennessee Avenue in the I-275 Business Park, just north of downtown Knoxville, the facility's 'next generation' amenities incorporate innovative design along with twenty-first century technology to provide better service to approximately 2,600 restaurants, healthcare and educational institutions, lodging facilities and other foodservice customer locations -- wherever meals are prepared away from home.
'Next generation' innovations include two robotic mechanized product storage and retrieval systems that improve handling efficiency, state-of-the-art lighting control systems to reduce electrical consumption, a generator capable of sustaining the facility at full operating capacity in the event of a power interruption or failure and a premier culinary training and evaluation center.
The facility contains freezer, cooler and ambient storage areas, and a spacious refrigerated dock to maintain maximum food safety and efficient inbound and outbound freight processes. The complex also includes administrative offices and a four-bay truck maintenance building.
The management team, led by Tommy Dail, president and CEO, brings more than 160 years of combined industry experience. With an initial staff of more than 250 employees, the company will continue its focus on helping its customers succeed by providing a selection of products uniquely tailored to its market, service excellence, innovative menu development and customer education programs.
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. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, the company generated more than $35 billion in sales. For more information about SYSCO visit the company's Internet home page at www.sysco.com.
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CONTACT: Sysco Food Services of Knoxville,
LLC Robert L. Law, Vice President - Sales & Marketing
865-545-5600