US Foods


US Foods Holding Corp. 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.
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.
The company is ranked 122nd on the Fortune 500 and 1127th on the Forbes Global 2000.

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.
In 1968, John Sexton & Co. was purchased by Beatrice Foods for $37.5 million.
In the 1970s, the Pearce-Young-Angel Company merged with Monarch Foods, then owned by Consolidated Foods Corporation.
In 1983, S.E. Rykoff merged with Sexton to become Rykoff-Sexton.
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.
In 1996, JP Foodservice acquired the remaining portion of PYA/Monarch.
In 1992, United Signature Foods Inc. was created. United Signature Foods Inc. After a series of mergers and buyouts between Rykoff-Sexton and US Foodservice and finally JP Foodservice, the company became a nationwide distributor.

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.
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. Yet, the two companies failed to reach agreement on several factors, including valuation, 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.
In late 1996, Sara Lee sold its remaining stake in JP Foodservice.
In February 2000, U.S. Foodservice acquired Stock Yards Packing.
In April 2000, Ahold acquired US Foodservice for $3.6 billion.
In December 2000, U.S. Foodservice acquired PYA/Monarch for $1.57 billion.
In 2007, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired the company for $7.1 billion.

2010s - present

In August 2010, John A. Lederer was appointed president and chief executive officer.
In September 2011, U.S. Foodservice announced its name change to US Foods, Inc..
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.
In May 2016, after the merger with Sysco was terminated, the company once again became a public company via an initial public offering.
In November 2022, Dave Flitman was named chief executive officer of the company.

Acquisitions