S.E. Rykoff - Rykoff-Sexton Pursues Acquisitions

Rykoff-Sexton Pursues Acquisitions

In 1996, under the leadership of Mark Van Stekelenburg, Rykoff-Sexton Inc. bought Continental Foods of Baltimore, MD, H&O Foods of Las Vegas, NV, and US Foodservice of Wilkes-Barre, PA . Rykoff-Sexton Inc. was now operating a national foodservice distribution division (d.b.a. "US Foodservice" with the businesses and assets of Sexton Foods, S.E. Rykoff & Co. and US Foodservice), a private label manufacturing division (Sexton Foods ), a foodservice contract and design division (Finegolds), and a foodservice equipment and supply division (S.E. Rykoff & Co.).

In 1997, Rykoff-Sexton (RYK) was generating $3.2 billion in annual sales and was in the process of re-branding all products to the US Foodservice brand by dropping the Rykoff-Sexton, S.E. Rykoff & Co. and John Sexton & Co. brands. It was determined that a standardized and easily recognizable brand would reflect a nationwide presence and distribution capabilities to better compete in the rapidly consolidating foodservice market. Ryoff-Sexton realized that it had to grow revenue and distribution presence or be squeezed out by Sysco the largest foodservice distributor in the United States with $14.45 billion in sales for fiscal 1997. During this time, the company headquarters were moved to Wilkes-Barre, PA from Lisle, IL.