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The SYSCO KC Story
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| The SYSCO Kansas City Story |
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From Mid-Central Fish Company to SYSCO Food Services of Kansas City
SYSCO Food Services of Kansas City began as a fresh fish company and was incorporated as Mid-Central Fish Company
in the state of Missouri on January 24, 1924.
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In those days we handled only fish in all forms, with the majority
being fresh. Next in popularity was pickled and salted fish; then came canned. There was no refrigeration for the
trucks. Drivers who were out at night used a mixture of salt and ice to keep the trucks cold. In the 20’s and 30’s
we supplied fish all the way to Los Angeles and Oakland, California by way of the Harvey Houses which supplied all
the trains. With the advent of dining cars, we supplied fish to all the railroads.
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In 1932, we were the first distributor of Birdseye frozen products west of the Mississippi. Clarence Birdseye came
to Kansas City and sold O.L. Carr on the idea of carrying frozen fish. The Birdseye line at that time consisted
only of frozen fish. Incidentally, during summers in the 1930’s, the company was in the produce business, selling
fresh limes for limeade. We also sold Planters Peanuts. It was enough to eke out a living and keep the doors open
during summer.
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At one time, we had branches in St. Joseph, MO; Amarillo, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Omaha, NE;
Albuquerque, N.M. and Wichita, KS.
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Of course, World War II changed many things. After the war was over, frozen products (mainly fish and vegetables)
blossomed. Since our beginning, we had been an establishment that sold to the retail stores, handling fresh fish,
and thousands of pounds of catfish daily. Now, we were also selling Dulaney Frozen Foods and Birdseye Frozen Foods
to be put in customers “ice cream” cabinets.
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In the mid 50’s, we could see that the retail frozen food line through the grocery warehouses was really
becoming a trend so we established our own retail line. This was Bespakt, with the second label being Choispakt.
These brands were not new, but they were new in the frozen food business. Mid-Central’s labels, as far back as ’24,
had been Bespakt, Choispakt and Fancipakt.
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About 1962 we determined that retail trade through the warehouse was a dead end because we thought the warehouses
would get into their own labels, which indeed they did. We decided to concentrate on the food service industry.
In 1965, to better represent the new company, the name was changed to Mid-Central Fish and Frozen Foods, Inc.
We had a full line of frozen foods and frozen fish. Then, in 1969 we were invited to be one of the original 8
SYSCO companies but declined the offer until 1975.
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We merged with and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the SYSCO Corporation on December 29, 1975, and three
years later expanded into dry and canned goods with expansion into fresh meat, fresh produce, dairy products
and supplies coming after that. The corporation suggested we keep our name and include SYSCO in it; thus, we
became Mid-Central/SYSCO Food Services, Inc. In 1998, we changed our name to SYSCO Food Services of Kansas City, Inc.
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