Sysco Corporation announced the launch of a new “Foodservice Doesn’t Brake for Adversity” campaign designed to help small foodservice businesses stay in business. The campaign will consist of strategically placed messages across multiple channels designed to encourage Americans to support their local restaurants and also highlights the resilience of all foodservice workers.

“In these extraordinary times, Sysco is proud to launch this important campaign to further demonstrate our commitment to ensuring neighborhood restaurants survive and succeed now and in the future,” said Kevin Hourican, Sysco's president and chief executive officer.

The national campaign includes both television and digital advertising, customer toolkits and resources to help restaurant owners navigate current business challenges. Sysco is also extending its pledge through May 31 to donate $0.50 to No Kid Hungry for every photo of a restaurant takeout meal shared on social media with the hashtags #TakeOutToGiveBack and #TeamNoKidHungry. No Kid Hungry is a campaign run by Share Our Strength, a non-profit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world.

Sysco has created a webpage that features campaign elements, including:

• The Company’s new television advertisement,
• Resources to help restaurant owners create pop up marketplaces and vibrant takeout programs to help them stay in business,
• Instructions for consumers showing them how to support their local restaurants by ordering take out and participating in the No Kid Hungry campaign,
• A live Instagram feed, and
• Other resources for foodservice operators that help address COVID-19 issues and the restaurant recovery process.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Sysco’s workforce has come together to support the communities they serve--delivering fresh, high-quality products; helping restaurants set up pop-up markets; assisting customers in establishing takeout and delivery services; establishing multiple avenues of direct-to-consumer sales; and donating over 21 million meals to those in need.

Hourican added, “Sysco lives at the heart of food and service and I am very proud of the way our associates have come together through adversity to ensure our customers and the communities they serve emerge stronger than before. We have led the industry in our efforts to ensure the success of our customers – from helping our customers operate in new ways and drive traffic to their business, to helping them understand and navigate relief options available in the United States through the CARES Act and other sources, to providing new tools to address the operating challenges presented by the pandemic. Time and time again, we have demonstrated our unwavering pledge to be our customers' most valued and trusted business partner, regardless of the circumstances.

About Sysco
Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. The company operates more than 320 distribution facilities worldwide and serves more than 650,000 customer locations. For fiscal 2019 that ended June 29, 2019, the company generated sales of more than $60 billion.

Click here for more COVID-19 coverage and how it is affecting the refrigerated and frozen foods industry.