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Sysco does it again

15K views 58 replies 26 participants last post by  leeniek 
#1 · (Edited)
Very frustrating day today.
Perhaps if you moderators would review your rules to include all people who wish to ask and contribute, this would alleviate any problems.

Have a afternoon crab boil this Sunday.
King crab lgs... 20# box about $360.00
Mussels
Clams
Corn on the cob
New Red Potatoes
Etc...

Went to meet the Sysco driver and my seafood was not on the truck.

Mind you these items were ordered 2 weeks ago. These items are 2 weeks out as Sysco calls it.
You wanna hear their reason?

Although my sales rep called in the order, their "go to" person was on vacation so the order never got placed.

Okay, so where does that leave me and my crab boil?

My sales rep seems to think her job ends when she pushes the "enter" button on her Sysco computer program.

She did not follow through... Plain and simple. This is an item that necessitated handling from order to delivery and she dropped the ball.
Unfortunately she will not be held accountable for this and neither will anyone else in the Sysco hierarchy.

So sad.
I had to take a second blood pressure pill today. This one has me livid .
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to vent.
And now back you your regular programming...[emoji]128513[/emoji]
 
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#3 ·
When fecal matter is introduced at a great velocity to the impellor.....

It really boils down to two choices

1) Sysco goes

or

2) Seafood goes

All things considering, whatever is on the menu makes money, and whatever you order from Sysco costs you money.

I'd say the choice is pretty obvious.

The odds of explaining this logic to a Sysco rep and getting it comprehended, are about the same odds that the said Sysco rep is reading this thread and has "read" the writing on the wall.

Hey, it's not my fault!
 
#4 · (Edited)
Only one example of many.  My US Rep Sold me some cupcakes at .75 ea.  Sold for 2.29.  They started selling really well.

Jacked price to 1.60.

My rep's answer?  Sell'em for the same amount, "you're charging too much", he said.  True story.

I've talked a few times to BEK.  They seem to be pricing just behind Sysco and US.   though they have some products priced less.  The doggy poop is about to hit the fan as soon as the merger is completed.  

It seems that just once, these people (distributors) would hire a rep that understood a little about the restaurant biz.  Mine is always winning vacations.
 
#5 ·
I'm still on the line and working my way up the ladder, these threads scare the hell out of me when I think about taking the helm. What will purveyors be like 7/10 years down the road if the climates changing like a boulder gaining momentum. What did you end up doing Chef Ross? Go to the grocer and buy out their supply at cost?
 
#8 ·
I'm still on the line and working my way up the ladder, these threads scare the hell out of me when I think about taking the helm. What will purveyors be like 7/10 years down the road if the climates changing like a boulder gaining momentum. What did you end up doing Chef Ross? Go to the grocer and buy out their supply at cost?
Surprisingly we were able to reschedule to August 2nd.

Hopefully (hopefully) Sysco will have what I need by then.

I have no other choices as Gordon Foods, US Foods or Rhinehart won't make the trip to our island.
 
#9 ·
I find it hard to believe that Sysco doesn't stock those items in your area. I have ordered King Crab legs many times from Sysco (I Do Not support or agree with them) for the truck the next day with no issues. To me it sounds like your Sales Rep dropped the ball and is passing the buck on to the buyer who was "on vacation." It must suck that you are locked in to using only Sysco, why won't the other big truck companies come to the island?  Best of luck!
 
#10 ·
The culture of "service" has gotten horrendous in the last few decades.  I used to have sales reps that would jump through hoops to get my business and make sure that each and every delivery was correct.  And they made sure I got everything I needed, even if that meant that they had to run to the warehouse, pick it up, and bring it to me themselves, even if it was my fault for forgetting to order it.  Nowadays, even if it is their fault the attitude is "oh well, you'll have to wait for your next order."  Unfortunately, this doesn't just apply to Sysco, or sales reps in general, but it seems to be a problem in more and more service industries.

One thing we used to do, to keep our sales reps honest was to require them to bid out our buisness every week.  I would make out a list of everything I needed to order from the "big boys" (Sysco and US Foods), give each rep a copy every week, and they would give me the prices for the items.  I would then order based on who had the lowest prices each week.  Sometimes that meant ordering from just 1 of them and other weeks I'd have a truck coming from both. Yes it was time consuming, but it kept them honest and kept my prices down.
 
#11 ·
But wait.....................there's more.

I get a phone call this morning from another restaurant here on the island asking me if I know anything about a 20# box of Alaskan Crab legs.

It was on their invoice and they would never order anything like that but know that I would so took the chance to call.

"Wow"....... is all I can say.

The crab now stays in the freezer until the 2nd of August anyways.
 
#13 ·
Its something when your competition is more considerate than your "partners." Never liked Sysco. A fairly recent developement (within the year anyway) is that their reps are forbidden to transport product to their clients directly, only on their truck or refer courier. So even their motivated, hard working reps are left hamstrung.
 
#14 ·
Keep in mind Sysco to a point is franchised each distributor is independent. Most of the sales people don't have a clue they are simply order takers. There are a very few who really know food.
 
#15 ·
A fairly recent developement (within the year anyway) is that their reps are forbidden to transport product to their clients directly, only on their truck or refer courier.
In this day and age I'm not surprised. In our law suit happy society I can see this as being perceived as a liability issue, which really sucks.
 
#18 ·
I don't miss my relationship with Sysco one iota. My rep was okay, as long as you didn't ask for too much of his time, or minded the occasional screw up on his order entry. It was the upper layer at Sysco that was mind numbingly frustrating. Credits promised by sales managers that have to be chased for months. The constant pricing creep. Incredible gouging on anything but center of the plate. The order and pricing process was purposefully cumbersome and tedious.I switched to US Foods as my broad-service vendor and it's been night and day. Their systems are terrific and i can order on the fly from my cell phone or tablet. I like the ability to search a data base of like items with prices. With Sysco, you had to buy what the rep recommended or ask him to read line by line each option. My US rep services the crap out of me and often drop ships a much needed item to another store and picks it up and delivers it to me. And best thing is, my costs are 10- 20% less per case on many items. I hope the merger doesn't screw up a good thing!
 
#21 ·
Ya unfortunately My experience with sys Co reps were never good. I would always ask my reps if my products were gmo and tell them they need to find out that info before they tried to sell me there products. I ordered 10 boxes of fry oil and the stupid f@ck sends me soybean fry oil seeing how almost 85% grown in the USA is gmo same goes with corn. Call him back and asked if he forgot are conversation we just had 15 min before I ordered. Oh I'll replace it with another gmo fry oil wtf. The thing is these big corporations no longer give a sh@t about the needs of their clients they push off junk products at an increased price. You have to remind them they work for you and if they want your business they need to jump through hoops to get it. They hire clowns with no experience in food products and knowledge in costing. I gave up on big corporate and went to the local farms and local markets to source for the restaurant. The thing is the smaller guys are willing to give you what you want if they can. Even though you might have to go through 20 different farmers your still helping ppl to survive and pay the bills. And there grateful for every dollar you put into there business.
 
#22 ·
Ya unfortunately My experience with sys Co reps were never good. I would always ask my reps if my products were gmo and tell them they need to find out that info before they tried to sell me there products. I ordered 10 boxes of fry oil and the stupid f@ck sends me soybean fry oil seeing how almost 85% grown in the USA is gmo same goes with corn. Call him back and asked if he forgot are conversation we just had 15 min before I ordered. Oh I'll replace it with another gmo fry oil wtf. The thing is these big corporations no longer give a sh@t about the needs of their clients they push off junk products at an increased price. You have to remind them they work for you and if they want your business they need to jump through hoops to get it. They hire clowns with no experience in food products and knowledge in costing. I gave up on big corporate and went to the local farms and local markets to source for the restaurant. The thing is the smaller guys are willing to give you what you want if they can. Even though you might have to go through 20 different farmers your still helping ppl to survive and pay the bills. And there grateful for every dollar you put into there business.
You're right Chef on this. Their sales people have no relevant industry experience unless

Chef or manager becomes a Sysco sales rep later on in life.

The really great sales people all get eaten up by the larger cities and small town America gets the leftovers.

In my area alone I have seen 7 Sysco reps in 15 years here.
 
#23 ·
Hi Ross,

I guess this is a two pronged post, but I really want you to see things from a distance.

Firstly, suppliers:

I've never dealt with Sysco, but I have kicked out their reps from my kitchen on more than one occasion. My experinces with "X bros." a local broadliner, gave me, an um, shall we say a different perspective? So I deal with x-bros, everything from dish soap to strawberries, at the time I was doing well over 4K/ mnth minimum with them, not a big customer, but a steady one. Every 6 mths or so they'd change out reps on me: Middle aged women with no foodservice experience, 19 yr old guys with no foodservice experience. I had to "educate" them on why I was so P.O'd that my delivery contained a box with 6 bskts strawbs, 2 bskts, gooseberries,and 1 4qt jug of oven cleaner (highly caustic) all in the same banana box. Took me a lot of "educating" them, but I finally got my point across. Then that rep gets moved and new one comes. The next one I have to "educate" why I'm so P.O'd with my cream delivery:24 qts of whipping cream, 5 had a two week date, 7 had a 1 week date, 4 had a 6 day date, and the rest had an I-dunno date. Again, took me a lot of "educating" on my part, to get them to understand, then the rep gets moved to a new area. And so on and so on, with "Belgian" chocolate that comes in 25 lb (pound) cases, with "fresh" chkn brsts that had to have at least 25% pump in them. You get the picture. X-bros would get someone off the street, get the smaller accounts to train them up, and then move them to the downtown area and the choicer accounts. On one hand, I understand, it's business, big accounts get more money and the better reps should handle those accounts. On the other hand, I'm paying for the rep's salary and I'm not getting my money's worth. After about 4 years of this, I moved most of my produce to neighborhood grocers, dairy to Costco, and split the meats between poultry, beef, and pork suppliers. They almost never f'd up on me, and if they did, they'd sure kiss my butt to make up for it. It's business, and if I don't make a buck, I won't be around for the next delivery.

Conclusion: Foodpump's second law: Giants play best with other giants. In other words your monthly accounts with them don't garner you any respect because they are too small. You are what you are, and you are not going to change for some dip-sh*t broadliner. For the customner, yes, you bet, but not for the supplier.

Secondly, you.

We've been communicating on this forum for, oh, what?10 years now? We get along pretty good. We've never met in person, and have maybe 3 or 4 Pm's between us in those 10 years. This isn't the first time you've complained about Sysco and how they screw up.

So, I don't know if you own this business or not, don't know how big the business is or what it entails, don't know if your boss is in love with Sysco or has chosen the lesser of two evils, and I don't know how far away you are located from the ocean, or even what ocean. But I meant what I said in my first post on this thread: Final analysis is that either sysco goes or the seafood goes. From now until the next f-up Sysco makes, that is the only choice you have in the matter.

If you can't get fresh seafood delivered with a two week heads-up, you gotta drop it from the menu. If you are within driving range of the ocean, you gotta get some seafood contacts, local or whatever. Giants play best with giants, and dwarves play best dwarves. Not saying we can't all get along, but at the end of the day the dwarf who plays with a giant feels like they got shafted.

If Sysco is jerking around with drygoods and staples, you gotta ask yourself, how do the local retailers in your town--grocery stores, dry goods stores, and fruit+veg stores get their goods?, Then d use their sources in combination with Sysco, and then eventually drop sysco.

I feel for you, but if I ever had to run a kitchen with only one supplier to depend on, either I'd cultivate local suppliers, or walk.
 
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#24 ·
Hi Ross,

I guess this is a two pronged post, but I really want you to see things from a distance.

Firstly, suppliers:

I've never dealt with Sysco, but I have kicked out their reps from my kitchen on more than one occasion. My experinces with "X bros." a local broadliner, gave me, an um, shall we say a different perspective? So I deal with x-bros, everything from dish soap to strawberries, at the time I was doing well over 4K/ mnth minimum with them, not a big customer, but a steady one. Every 6 mths or so they'd change out reps on me: Middle aged women with no foodservice experience, 19 yr old guys with no foodservice experience. I had to "educate" them on why I was so P.O'd that my delivery contained a box with 6 bskts strawbs, 2 bskts, gooseberries,and 1 4qt jug of oven cleaner (highly caustic) all in the same banana box. Took me a lot of "educating" them, but I finally got my point across. Then that rep gets moved and new one comes. The next one I have to "educate" why I'm so P.O'd with my cream delivery:24 qts of whipping cream, 5 had a two week date, 7 had a 1 week date, 4 had a 6 day date, and the rest had an I-dunno date. Again, took me a lot of "educating" on my part, to get them to understand, then the rep gets moved to a new area. And so on and so on, with "Belgian" chocolate that comes in 25 lb (pound) cases, with "fresh" chkn brsts that had to have at least 25% pump in them. You get the picture. X-bros would get someone off the street, get the smaller accounts to train them up, and then move them to the downtown area and the choicer accounts. On one hand, I understand, it's business, big accounts get more money and the better reps should handle those accounts. On the other hand, I'm paying for the rep's salary and I'm not getting my money's worth. After about 4 years of this, I moved most of my produce to neighborhood grocers, dairy to Costco, and split the meats between poultry, beef, and pork suppliers. They almost never f'd up on me, and if they did, they'd sure kiss my butt to make up for it. It's business, and if I don't make a buck, I won't be around for the next delivery.

Conclusion: Foodpump's second law: Giants play best with other giants. In other words your monthly accounts with them don't garner you any respect because they are too small. You are what you are, and you are not going to change for some dip-sh*t broadliner. For the customner, yes, you bet, but not for the supplier.

Secondly, you.

We've been communicating on this forum for, oh, what?10 years now? We get along pretty good. We've never met in person, and have maybe 3 or 4 Pm's between us in those 10 years. This isn't the first time you've complained about Sysco and how they screw up.

So, I don't know if you own this business or not, don't know how big the business is or what it entails, don't know if your boss is in love with Sysco or has chosen the lesser of two evils, and I don't know how far away you are located from the ocean, or even what ocean. But I meant what I said in my first post on this thread: Final analysis is that either sysco goes or the seafood goes. From now until the next f-up Sysco makes, that is the only choice you have in the matter.

If you can't get fresh seafood delivered with a two week heads-up, you gotta drop it from the menu. If you are within driving range of the ocean, you gotta get some seafood contacts, local or whatever. Giants play best with giants, and dwarves play best dwarves. Not saying we can't all get along, but at the end of the day the dwarf who plays with a giant feels like they got shafted.

If Sysco is jerking around with drygoods and staples, you gotta ask yourself, how do the local retailers in your town--grocery stores, dry goods stores, and fruit+veg stores get their goods?, Then d use their sources in combination with Sysco, and then eventually drop sysco.

I feel for you, but if I ever had to run a kitchen with only one supplier to depend on, either I'd cultivate local suppliers, or walk.
Well then.

Hi back foodpump.

You are absolutely 100% correct in everything you just said.

Simply put, my geographical location makes it impossible to find descent food purveyors who

1. will make the trip to my location

(I live and work on an island in Lake Huron)

2. have at least, a working knowledge of their computer program.

(on several occasions I have snatched that laptop out from under her (highly illegal) hands and placed my order, handed the damn thing back to her to push the enter button.)

On top of that, my boss owns a resort here and because of this relationship I have no other choices but to use Sysco.

I see GFS trucks on the mainland all the time. Rhinehart too, but their company's will not send their trucks on the ferry to the island.

If I want fresh stone crab claws from Florida, it's impossible as next day air doesn't exist here. Tried it once. Plane delivered stone crab claws to local airport. Limo driver has already gone home for the day so my order sits on the floor of the terminal overnight and is delivered the next day. You can imagine the results.

On the other hand Sysco did this "sea to table" program that worked well.....if you ordered a minimum of 30# of product from one dock.

Product came in Styrofoam with ice packs.....perfect.

When I am in Chicago, I always stop at my fish purveyor and have him pack up quality product in same packaging and have that shipped to my boss' plane by taxi.

It then gets back here within an hour and a half.

I guess my rant with Sysco has a lot to do with logistics as this has been my thorn in the side with them for a long time.

I can only imagine what Chefs on Mackinac Island must go through having their product delivered by horse drawn carriage.

Cars or trucks are not allowed on the island to keep its' charm, but I'll bet is a nightmare for them.
 
#25 ·
Your provider should be an ally, and a partner to you and your business. They have a vested interest in your business doing well. Once that ally becomes a source of stress and costs you money you should start to reconsider being partnered with them. I am sure there are 2-3 more rep's out there drooling for your business.

I'd say it is time to start shopping for options.
 
#26 ·
They don't care about chefs. They want to sell you prepared crap because the margins are higher. The dont want Chefs to deal with because raw materials and commodities have lower margins. They just want some zombie jackass they can sell pre-made shit to. Also will work on owner to get on board with this. They claim they are Chef oriented, but they would love to put them all out of business and sell high margin shit. As far a vacations that is real. They will have brokers come in and set up sales competitions for their products. All of a sudden you are getting Cains mayo instead of Hellmans. You dont want Cains. "Oh sorry we are out of it" , so you take it. Its part of the promotion. He wants his trip to Vegas. Disgusting how the Sausage is made with brokers and distributors. They dont care about chefs. They laugh about it. Sysco soured me on the whole industry. They worship the Walmart template. Now they are trying to get even bigger. Better off going to the Supermarket at this point.  Seriously, price out a refrigerated truck. It will pay for itself in a year!!!
 
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