Tom Bene Joins Sysco Corporation as Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer

HOUSTON (March 19, 2013 - Globe Newswire)—Sysco Corporation announced today that Tom Bené will join the company, effective April 15, in the newly created role of executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.

"As we proceed with strengthening our executive leadership team, optimizing our supply chain and effectively implementing our category management initiatives, we are very pleased to welcome Tom Bené to Sysco," said Bill DeLaney, Sysco president and chief executive officer. "Tom's breadth of experience and expertise in merchandising, marketing, sales and operations will significantly enhance Sysco's capabilities to strengthen our relationships with customers and suppliers and drive profitable growth and free cash flow for our shareholders."

In addition to overseeing merchandising, Bené also will have direct responsibility for supply chain and quality assurance activities, while working closely with senior leaders on Sysco's sales, marketing and operations teams. Bill Day, executive vice president for Merchandising at Sysco, will continue to lead the company's enterprise-wide merchandising efforts, including the category management initiative, and will report to Bené.

Prior to joining Sysco, Bené was president of PepsiCo Foodservice, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in merchandising, sales, operations, franchise development and general management over a 23-year span.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Financing

For Papa Johns, the CEO departure came at the wrong time

The Bottom Line: The pizza chain worked to convince franchisees to buy into a massive marketing shift. And then the brand’s CEO left.

Trending

More from our partners