The Sysco Produce Program’s pillars, Enhanced Produce Specifications, Food Safety and Traceability, Sustainability, and Quality Assurance, are focused on providing our customers with the highest quality, freshest, and most convenient produce. For customers who have limited space or those who require a smaller volume of produce, we are revamping our Produce Small Packs to offer all the benefits, in more convenient-sized packages.
Produce Small Packs
Over the next six months, Sysco Produce Small Packs’ improved program offers customers a more efficient process for delivering produce from our network of growers right to customers’ doors. We developed and negotiated a more direct distribution path, reducing costs and improving customer experience. Sysco Produce Small Packs program offers greater alignment with items commonly available at retail and club stores along with competitive pricing. It also eliminates the need for brick-and-mortar location visits. This new process allows us to deliver uniform assortments across markets, providing customers with smaller portion sizes of specific items delivered to their doors.
The main goal of the Sysco Produce Program is to provide our customers with the highest quality, freshest, and most convenient produce options. We have revamped our Produce Small Pack program to ensure customers with limited space or those requiring only a small volume of produce. This allows them to still enjoy all the benefits of the Sysco Produce Program in perfectly sized packages.
Customers who order Sysco Small Packs can rest assured that the produce they receive will still adhere to the four pillars of the Sysco Produce Program.
Enhanced Product Specifications
Sysco Produce Small Packs help our customers purchase the portion needed while still providing enhanced product specifications benefits developed for full case purchases.
Every Sysco FreshPoint branded product follows strict specifications that are equal to or more stringent than USDA/CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) standards. Sysco’s Quality Assurance (QA) team inspects products in the field daily, acting as Sysco’s “boots on the ground,” while suppliers monitor our products daily.
Sysco Branded Products are moved to cooling no more than 2 hours from the time of harvest and shipped from their source no more than 48 hours from packing, resulting in delivery of the freshest products available. Sysco customers benefit from freshness, quality, and consistency in yield servings per case or per Sysco Produce Small Pack, which helps lower portion costs.
Food Safety and Traceability
Sysco FreshPoint is dedicated to ensuring food safety from Field to Fork. Sysco’s QA Team verifies that Sysco food defense programs are in place both in the fields and in processing plants. This ensures all programs are followed, documented, enforced, and housed in our secure database. Sysco FreshPoint has a dedicated regulatory compliance team that enables quick action to isolate, secure, and remove products from the marketplace with Sysco’s Traceability and Recall Preparedness programs. All Sysco FreshPoint Brands are also marked with a Julian Date Pack Code date sticker for traceability, recall, and customer complaint purposes. Our stringent processes ensure that Sysco produce comes only from verified, food-safe sources and that all products are 100% traceable in the event of a recall. The same traceability and food safety standards apply to full case orders and Sysco Produce Small Packs, giving every customer peace of mind.
Sustainability
As the leader in fresh produce for foodservice, Sysco tirelessly strives to address current agricultural issues including social responsibility, environmental sustainability, pesticide management, and water conservation to ensure the supply chain peacefully co-exists with the environment. We use stapleless, kraft boxes for all Sysco FreshPoint brand products for lower environmental impact for our full case orders and provide reduced packaging in our Produce Small Packs. We work with suppliers committed to sustainability and work with our vendors to improve post-harvest technologies, strengthening total viable shelf-life and further reducing food waste. Continual engagement and improvement is a key part of our sustainability efforts in foodservice, assuring our customers that they are doing business with a responsible company and providing Produce Small Pack options to help reduce food waste.
Quality Assurance
Sysco’s commitment to quality is second to none in the Foodservice Community. We apply our commitment to every piece of produce we sell, whether full cases or Sysco Produce Small Packs. Sysco FreshPoint Quality Assurance (QA) team is the largest within the foodservice industry and conducts daily Field/Cooler and Processing Plant inspections on all branded products manufactured and packed. This is the Sysco “Boots on the Ground” advantage. We monitor our branded, approved Value-Added facilities daily for quality and food safety, along with routine monitoring of non-branded, core program suppliers. Annual scheduled and unannounced third-party audits are conducted by Sysco QA for all Sysco FreshPoint branded suppliers. All branded suppliers are Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certified. Third- party audits of Good Agricultural Practice are required for all high-risk produce items and are managed by the Sysco FreshPoint GAP program partnered with Azzule. The Sysco Quality Assurance Team ensures uncompromising dedication to food safety for our customers.
The Sysco Produce Program operates to ensure that every customer receives fresh, quality and convenient produce. Our goal is to help our customers be successful. Expanding and enhancing our Produce Small Pack offerings is another way Sysco is meeting our customers’ needs providing Sysco Produce Small Packs in perfect portions or full cases of our fresh quality produce. If you have questions about how you can become a Sysco customer or want to learn more about our sustainability practices, click here.
