HOUSTON, Jan. 26, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) today announced that Pactiv Corporation (Lake Forest, IL) has been named as Sysco's 2008 Supplier of the Year. The award was presented at Sysco's first Super Regional Conference held in Houston, Texas on January 13, 2009. This is the 14th year that Sysco has annually recognized its top performing suppliers. Pactiv, or its acquired subsidiaries, has been named a Top 100 Sysco Supplier each year of the program. This marks the first year that Pactiv has been named as Sysco's number one Gold Supplier.
In addition to Pactiv, the remaining top Gold Suppliers include, in order: Conagra-Lamb Weston (Kennewick, WA); McCormick & Company, Inc.(Hunt Valley, MD); Pilgrim's Pride (Pittsburgh, TX); Dean Foods-Morningstar (Dallas, TX); Sara Lee Foodservice (Downers Grove, IL); Heritage Bag Company (Carrolton, TX); Advanced Food Company (Oklahoma City, OK); Heinz North America (Pittsburgh, PA); and Perdue Incorporated (Salisbury, MD). The 2008 Supplier Recognition recipients were selected from over 2,000 eligible suppliers located across the world. All finalists -- the "Top 100" -- were selected based on key business performance metrics with critical evaluation by Sysco's U.S. broadline distribution companies, Sysco's corporate Merchandising, Sourcing, Quality Assurance and Supply Chain Services departments.
Also announced today are the winners of Sysco's Fifth Annual Heritage Awards. The Heritage Awards are presented to Sysco's top Women and Minority Owned Businesses that supply Sysco Brand products. This year's recipients include Gold Medalist Carla's Pasta, Inc. (South Windsor, CT), Silver Medalist Windsor Foods (Houston, TX) and Bronze Medalist Signature Breads (Chelsea, MA). This is the second year in a row for Carla's Pasta to win the Gold award.
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food and food service supply 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 fiscal year 2008, the company generated over $37 billion in sales. For more information about Sysco, visit the company's website at www.sysco.com.
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Gold Award Winners 1. Pactiv Corporation (Lake Forest, IL) 2. ConAgra-Lamb Weston (Kennewick, WA) 3. McCormick & Company, Inc. (Hunt Valley, MD) 4. Pilgrim's Pride (Pittsburgh, TX) 5. Dean Foods-Morningstar (Dallas, TX) 6. Sara Lee Foodservice (Downers Grove, IL) 7. Heritage Bag Company (Carrolton, TX) 8. Advanced Food Company (Oklahoma City, OK) 9. Heinz North America (Pittsburgh, PA) 10. Perdue Incorporated (Salisbury, MD) Silver Award Winners 11. Devi Seafoods Ltd. (Visakhapatnam, India) 12. Sanderson Farms (Laurel, MS) 13. SCA Tissue North America (Neenah, WI) 14. Mission Foods (Irving, TX) 15. H.J. Heinz-Menu Inspirations (Pittsburgh, PA) 16. Lyons-Magnus (Fresno, CA) 17. McCain Foods USA-Potatoes (Lisle, IL) 18. Schreiber Foods, Inc. (Green Bay, WI) 19. Rich Products Corporation (Buffalo, NY) 20. Alpha Baking Company (Chicago, IL) 21. Arista Industries, Inc. (Wilton, CT) 22. Azar Nut Company (El Paso, TX) 23. Awrey Bakeries, Inc. (Livonia, MI) 24. Wells' Dairy, Inc. (Le Mars, IA) 25. Carla's Pasta, Inc. (South Windsor, CT) 26. Windsor Foods (Houston, TX) 27. Libbey Inc. (Toledo, OH) 28. Rotella's Italian Bakery, Inc. (LaVista, NE) 29. Red Gold Company (Orestes, ID) 30. HP Hood LLC (Lynnfield, MA) 31. Campbell Soup Company (Camden, NJ) 32. Tyson Foods, Inc. -- Protein (Springdale, AK) 33. Holten Meat Company (Sauget, IL) 34. Handgards Inc. (El Paso, TX) 35. Tyson Foods, Inc. -- Prepared Foods (Springdale, AK) 36. Saputo Cheese USA, Inc. (Lincolnshire, IL) 37. American Italian Pasta Company (Kansas City, MO) 38. Cargill Dressing, Sauces ad Oils (Wayzata, MN) 39. Domino Foods, Inc. (Iselin, NJ) 40. Ventura Foods, LLC (Brea, CA) Bronze Award Winners ACS Industries, Inc. (Woonsocket, RI) Agro Sevilla USA, Inc. (Herndon, VA) Allen Canning Company (Siloam Springs, AK) Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (New Ulm, MN) Archer Daniels Midland (Decatur, IL) Basic American Foods (Walnut Creek, CA) Bay Valley Foods (Westchester, IL) BelGioioso Cheese, Inc. (Denmark, WI) Brooklace, Inc. (West haven, CT) Bunge Oils (St. Louis, MO) Calumet Diversified Meats, Inc. (Pleasant Prairie, WI) Camerican International, Inc. (Paramus, NJ) Cargill -- Protein (Wayzata, MN) Case Farms (Morganton, NC) C.H. Guenther & Son, Inc. (San Antonio, TX) The Cheesecake Factory Bakery, Inc. (Calabasas Hills, CA) Continental Mills, Inc. (Tukwila, WA) The Dannon Company (White Plains, NY) Dan's Prize, Inc. (Gainesville, GA) Darigold, Inc. (Seattle, WA) Dole Packaged Foods Company (Westlake Village, CA) Ecolab (St. Paul, MN) F.W. Bryce, Inc. (Gloucester, MA) Foodhandler Inc. (Melville, NY) Furmano Foods (Northumberland, PA) Gold Standard Baking Inc. (Chicago, IL) Heartland Catfish (Itta Bena, MS) House of Raeford (Raeford, NC) J.R. Simplot Company (Boise, ID) Kickapoo Valley Cheese Corp. (Milladore, WI) Knouse Foods, Inc. (Peach Glen, PA) Kraft Foodservice (Northfield, IL) Lakeside Foods, Inc. (Manitowoc, WI) Land O Lakes, Inc. (St. Paul, MN) McCain Foods USA -- Snacks/Appetizers (Lisle, IL) National Beef Packing Company (Kansas City, MO) National Frozen Foods Corp. (Seattle, WA) Odom's Tennessee Pride (Madison, TN) Sorrento-Lactalis (Buffalo, NY) OSI Industries, Inc. (Aurora, IL) Otis Spunkmeyer (San Leandro, CA) Pacific Cheese Company (Hayward, CA) Pacific Coast Producers (Lodi, CA) Producer's Rice Mill, Inc. (Stuttgart, AR) Ralcorp, Inc. (St. Louis, MO) Roth Kase USA, Ltd. (Monroe, WI) SMS Services, L.L.C. (Chicago, IL) Seawatch International, Ltd. (Milford, DE) Signature Breads, Inc. (Chelsea, MA) Singleton Seafood Co. (Tampa, FL) Smithfield Foods, Inc. (Smithfield, VA) The Sterno Group (Des Plaines, IL) Sugar Foods Corporation (New York, NY) Sugardale Foods, Inc. (Canton, OH) Superior Foods, Inc. (Watsonville, CA) Tampa Maid Foods, Inc. (Lakeland, FL) Trinidad Benham Corp. (Denver, CO) Tyson Foods, Inc.-- Poultry (Springdale, AK) Vanee Foods Company, Inc. (Berkeley, IL) Vitality Foodservice, Inc. (Tampa, FL) 2008 HERITAGE AWARD WINNERS GOLD Carla's Pasta, Inc. (South Windsor, CT) SILVER Windsor Foods (Houston, TX) BRONZE Signature Breads, Inc. (Chelsea, MA)