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Sysco Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Digital OfficerTom Peck - Pic by Lasantha Kumara
By Darshana Abayasingha
Sri Lanka has a great talent pool in its university pipeline – full of innovative spirits – so the country must continue to invest in its talent and science and technology programs, as this is important and attractive for global technology companies, avers Sysco Corporation Executive Vice President and Chief Information and Digital Officer Tom Peck.
In an interview with the Daily FT, Peck remarks Sri Lanka has “a reputation for being technology-progressive”, with good college recruits and programs in computer science. It’s an entrepreneurial, innovative type of culture mindset, he adds, ideal to solve business problems. “There are so many great people here that know how to support a global multinational corporation,” said the CIO of this Fortune 100 company. Peck says there is a tremendous degree of recruitment taking place at their Colombo office, and said Sri Lanka is a great place to hire. “I can’t think of a better place to have one of our largest delivery centres than Sri Lanka.”
Sysco Corporation is an American multinational and the world’s largest seller, marketer and distributor of food products, smallware and kitchenware to restaurants, healthcare, educational, hospitality and other industries all around the world. The company operates 333 distribution facilities worldwide serving 700,000 customer locations generating over $ 68 billion in sales last year. Sysco Labs is the innovation arm of the company, with its office in Sri Lanka enabling the world’s largest foodservice company to connect with the world through its technology solutions.
Boom and gloom
COVID-19 forced Sysco to reinvent itself, just as it did to many other companies, Peck says, and Sysco is growing despite the downturn that seems to have impacted many global industries and nations.
“We are hiring. There’s a lot of companies out there around the globe who are dealing with global macroeconomic challenges, layoffs and political challenges or market challenges; there’s a lot of bad news out there in the world today. But at Sysco Labs, with the technology that we’re bringing into the company to really reinvent ourselves – there’s nothing but good news here. We need great talent and Sri Lanka is a source of great talent. We also like to believe that we are doing good things for the planet too, and one of the things that makes us a maybe little bit different to a lot of companies is we are a purpose-driven company.”
“We are finding more people around the globe want to work for a company that has a purpose. Our reason for being is not just for delivering food. Our purpose is to connect the world to share food and care for one another. We view the dinner table or restaurant or an outing with friends and family as coming together to make the world a better place, and we do that with food. So, connecting people to share food and care for one another – it’s been a huge attraction for candidates. They not only want to work for work, but also for great companies, great people and certainly work on progressive technologies; but they also want to work with a company that has a sense or purpose of doing good to the world,” says Peck.
Responsibility targets
Sysco adopts a science-based approach to help achieve its climate goals and hopes to reduce emissions by 27.5% in 2030 by adding over 2,500 electric trucks to its fleet and 100% renewable energy for its global operations. Sysco has partnerships with food banks and hunger relief organisations to invest in the needs of diverse communities around the world to fight hunger. Sysco donated over 50 million meals during the pandemic and will reach over $ 500 million in donations to charities by 2025.
Tom joined Sysco at the outset of COVID-19, and he opines the pandemic brought out much good just as it did the bad. The food service and distribution industry were amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic alongside airlines and hospitality. He says the company had a mandate to reinvent itself with technology and people and transform to survive the pandemic economy and redefine how it would do business in the future. To be Sysco’s Chief Information and Digital Officer at the time, and to reinvent the company had been a huge draw for him, and remarks “this is one of the best companies on the planet.”
Reinventing for futures
COVID forced companies to reinvent themselves maybe faster than they would have thought they had to, Peck says, and many industries and their customers needed help to effect that transformation. Sysco had to devise innovative ways to help its own customers through touchless menus leveraging QR codes and others. This was extended to new ways of delivering food, such as curb side checkout around the globe. “It drove a more consumer-like self-service experience.” When things are difficult and challenging, some companies will retreat, protect and defend whilst others will grow and flourish and reinvent themselves and thrive, which he says is what Sysco did for itself and is now growing faster than before.
“The CIO role is the traditional role of delivery of technology like software, applications and the infrastructure. But the Digital Officer role is a little bit different. I like to say it’s the intersection of people-process technology where they come together, and that is how companies transform and change. In terms of things we are doing, our transformations are what we call a recipe for growth and that has five pillars. It is about delivering to our customers a more online, self-service digital experience; that’s number one. Number two, it’s about having the right products, right merchandising and right pricing. Number three is a more agile supply chain and four is better selling tools. Number five we call it future rises, innovation and entrepreneurship, having a future mindset. So, I have the privilege of sitting at the intersection of our entire transformation. The technology we deliver is enabling that transformation. We are taking what was a traditional high-touch business-to-business company and reinventing it.”
Growth: locally and globally
Peck says the traditional business-to-business transaction method where customers would call to list their requirement is being swiftly replaced with a low-touch modern consumer-focused business model that will deliver greater efficiencies across the value chain. He adds this reflects the transition of wholesale distribution models into a self-service consumer-like model, with technology at the centre.
“That’s why it’s great to be here in Sri Lanka, because this team here at Sysco Labs is the engineering and delivery team behind a lot of that technology. I want Sysco Labs here in Sri Lanka to do what I call, ‘win more work’. What I mean by that is why can’t we give more of our work to Sysco Labs business here in Colombo rather than other vendors, partners, and third parties around the globe? Why can’t we send more work to Sri Lanka? Why can’t we hire more people? We want to and we will,” he states.
Over the next decade, Peck says Sysco aims to grow one and half times the market, and it is already growing faster than the rest. “We are a large Fortune 100 company, approximately $ 80 billion around the globe. But we’re a growth company. If you think about that, it’s pretty amazing to have such a large company that’s growing and being innovative.” But it’s not just about growth and size, Peck says Sysco is committed to be good global citizens and are aggressively pursuing social responsibility and climate goals.
“We want to help make the world a better place. Make us more climate friendly. So, it’s not just about growth or just sustainability. We also want to be the best place to work for our colleagues and our associates. We want to make sure that all our customers feel like they are special, and we are driving a lot of that personalised experience to every one of our customers to thrive and succeed in their business as well,” he said.
Sysco’s robust international network supports customers in 90 different countries around the world. Today, Sysco encompasses four business groups: Broadline – the largest segment of Sysco’s business is made up of operating companies, which are locally focused and able to supply hands-on customer service. Specialty companies – which ensure every customer everywhere has constant access to Sysco’s vast selection of specialty foods and supplies, and include companies which specialise in produce, meat, seafood, and European products to name a few. Sysco International includes operations in the Bahamas, Ireland, Costa Rica, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Luxembourg, Panama, and Belgium while Sysco’s 16 SYGMA operating companies distribute a full line of food products and a wide variety of non-food products to chain restaurant customer locations.
