Sysco Buys California Food Distributors J & M, Imperio

Food distributor Sysco Corporation SYY announced Friday that it bought California-based J& M Wholesale Meats and Imperio Foods.

What Happened

The Modesto-based sister companies have about $44 million in combined annual sales, according to Sysco. 

The companies operate throughout northern California and Oregon. J & M specializes in "center-of-the-plate" products with a focus on the Hispanic segment, and Imperio targets the same customers with retail-pack canned goods, Sysco said. 

Sysco, which serves more than 600,000 customer locations, generated sales of more than $58 billion in fiscal 2018. 

The terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed. 

Why It's Important

"We are excited to welcome J & M Wholesale Meats and Imperio Foods into the Sysco family of businesses," Greg Bertrand, Sysco's executive vice president for U.S. foodservice operations, said in a statement 

"The acquisition of these businesses is a complementary adjacency to our existing California area business and provides Sysco with the opportunity to further extend our reach into the Hispanic customer segment." 

The acquired companies will continue to be managed by their current executives, including owner and operator Maria Jimenez, Sysco said. 

What's Next

Sysco shares were up more than 1 percent at $68.82 at the time of publication Friday. 

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Photo via Wikimedia.