Sysco, the world’s largest food distributor, recently announced the names of their new president and chief executive operating officer for the company’s Canadian branch. Although this didn’t come as a total surprise for most people familiar with the company, the timing certainly threw most people off. Sysco announced that Randy White would take over the position for Sysco Canada and that Rod Stroud would take over the position for Sysco Canada’s and executive vice president operating officer.
The reason why this news didn’t come as a total surprise to business analysts is because both White and Stroud are long-time Sysco employees with an impressive background working for the company. Before his promotion, Randy White was the president and CEO of Sysco Canada’s Western Region, where he handled most of the major business development plants for the area. In addition to this title, White was also the CEO of Sysco Calgary, which is an impressive feat in itself. Stroud, on the other hand, was the president and CEO of Sysco Canada’s eastern region.
You might be surprised to hear that Randy White started his career back in the late 70s working at a large-scale food distribution warehouse. Here, he worked hard as he continued to rise up the corporate ladder and eventually became the vice president of SERCA’s Pacific Division in Vancouver. In recent years, he’s gained some impressive positions for SERCA and Sysco with his latest being the president for the company’s Canada branch. As you can expect, this is a pretty large position with a lot of responsibilities and tasks for the seasoned worker.
Stroud isn’t a newcomer to the food manufacturing business either. In fact, in one way or another, he’s worked in the industry for nearly three decades, starting off as a driver for Burgess Wholesale. Stroud continued to work for the company and work gain higher positions. Not long after, he was named general manager of Kingston in Ontario, Canada.
Only time will tell if this was a strategically good move for the food manufacturing giant Sysco. With that said, it’s hard to deny that two other people could be more experienced and qualified for position. Stroud and Randy will likely keep this company working on the high-level its always been. Of course these recent changes only affect their Canada branch, so other branches throughout the world remain unchanged.