Sexton Foods - John Sexton & Co. Focuses On Growth

John Sexton & Co. Focuses On Growth

In 1961, Sexton announced a major capital plan to add product lines, expand into new territories and modernize its distribution system. New warehouses were built or leased in Dallas, Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Plans to roll out a computer based inventory and accounting system were established. In 1962, John Sexton & Co. and S.E. Rykoff & Co of Los Angeles entered negotiation where Sexton Quality Foods would purchase Rykoff in a stock and debt assumption transaction. Rykoff had a very strong presence in the Los Angeles foodservice market that was attractive to Sexton Foods. Sexton Foods preferred to purchase a strong local market leader, rather than starting from scratch, since a new market could be penetrated much faster. Sexton Foods and S.E. Rykoff were not able to reach agreement. After which, Sexton Quality Foods announced plans to open a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) warehouse and Sexton truck fleet in the Compton warehouse district of Los Angeles to support the southern California and Nevada Sexton sales force. Also in 1962, the Long Island City Sexton warehouse building was sold and Sexton relocated to a modern distribution and manufacturing facility located at 360 Van Brunt St, Englewood, NJ

In 1964, Sexton purchased the institutional wholesale grocery department of National Brands Inc. located in Miami, FL. A Sexton Warehouse was established in Miami that year. In 1965, Sexton purchased Cincinnati Foods, Inc., an institutional wholesaler located in Cincinnati, OH and a Sexton Warehouse was opened.

In 1965, Sexton began a capital investment in data processing to transition away from the traditional ledger inventory control and accounting. Using the IBM System/360 mainframe, Sexton designed a software system to automate inventory records, customer billing and accounts receivable. To insure a smooth transition, the automated accounting system was rolled out branch by branch during 1965. The data processing center was located in the general offices in Chicago.

In 1967, John Sexton & Co. operated 12 branch warehouses, which served over 79,000 customers throughout the continental United States, in the West Indies and Hawaii. Sexton branch warehouses were located in Atlanta, Boston (Newton, MA), Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York (Englewood, NJ), Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. These branches and the 370 sales territories covered 500 of the major US metropolitan areas where 90% of all restaurants, schools, hospitals and foodservice customers were located. Approximately, 70% of all foodservice purchases were made through route salesmen or telephone orders. By 1967, 31% of foodservice customers purchased 76% of the food volume due to regional and national chains. The balance of the foodservice purchases was from small independent restaurants, schools, hospitals and foodservice providers. Sexton’s quality products, national distribution network and sales force allowed it to provide the service that the varied customers demanded.

In 1967, nearly all 2,250 products distributed by Sexton were sold under its own trade names, brands and labels. Products included a broad line of canned foods, canned and processed meats, coffee, tea spice and paper products, everything except frozen foods, meat, milk and fresh produce. About 27 percent of the products distributed by Sexton were manufactured, processed, packed, bottled, or canned in Sexton manufacturing plants, the balance of the Sexton products were purchased from other food manufacturers. To insure high quality foods, Sexton had operated food laboratories since the 1890s for the systematic testing of "quality" in the products it produced, the products it distributed and for the development of new products. By July 1, 1967, Sexton had developed and placed on the market a number of new convenience products including "Jet Set," an instant gelatin, canned "Chopped Chicken Livers" and "Spoon-Redi," a line of puddings to be spooned directly from the can into dessert dishes. Although frozen and refrigerated food products were explored by Sexton, the majority of the foodservice customers in 1967 had yet to invested in cold storage in their kitchens.