SYSCO and Sobeys Announce Definitive Agreement to Sell Pacific Division of SERCA Foodservice to Gordon Food Service

Business Wire, March 19, 2002

Business Editors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 2002

SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY), North America's largest foodservice marketer and distributor, and Sobeys Inc. (TSE:SBY) jointly announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to sell the Pacific Division operations of SERCA Foodservice Inc. to Gordon Food Service. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Pacific Division is headquartered in Delta, British Columbia, Canada, and serves customers throughout the province of British Columbia. The operations are offered for sale in connection with the previously announced proposed acquisition by SYSCO of the SERCA foodservice operations from Sobeys. Both the sale of the Pacific Division operations and SYSCO's acquisition of the SERCA operations are subject to numerous conditions, including obtaining the approval of the Competition Bureau of Canada. The sale will allow the Pacific Division to continue as a broadline foodservice distributor in British Columbia, independent of SYSCO.

The closing of SYSCO's acquisition of SERCA and the sale of the Pacific Division to Gordon Food Service are expected to occur simultaneously in the next few weeks.

Gordon Food Service, a 103-year-old, family owned and managed, broadline foodservice distributor, is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. The company's distribution network services 30,000 customers with over 12,000 products in 12 states and six Canadian provinces. More information on Gordon Food Service can be found at www.gfs.com.

Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, Sobeys Inc. is Canada's second largest retail grocer and distributor. Sobeys operates over 1,300 corporate and franchise stores in all 10 provinces under a range of retail banners, including Sobeys, Garden Market IGA, IGA extra and Price Chopper. The company achieved overall sales of CAD$11.37 billion for its fiscal year ended May 5, 2001. More information on Sobeys can be found at www.sobeys.com.

SERCA, a division of Sobeys Inc., is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, and is one of the largest operators in the North American foodservice industry. The company supplies about 100,000 food products, as well as foodservice supplies and equipment, to approximately 80,000 customers, including restaurants, hotels, fast food chains, educational facilities and health care locations. SERCA operates throughout Canada and is supported by approximately 4,000 employees and a fleet of 500 delivery vehicles. For its fiscal year 2001 that ended May 5, 2001 SERCA generated sales of CAD$2.21 billion (US$1.44 billion).

SYSCO is the largest foodservice marketing and distribution organization in North America. Generating sales of approximately $22.6 billion for calendar year 2001, the company provides products and services to about 370,000 customers, including restaurants, healthcare and educational institutions, lodging establishments and other foodservice operations. The SYSCO distribution network, supported by more than 43,000 employees, currently extends throughout the entire contiguous United States, and portions of Alaska, Hawaii and Canada. For more information about SYSCO, visit the company's home page at www.sysco.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made herein are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They include statements regarding the timing of the closing of SYSCO's acquisition of SERCA and the related sale of certain assets in British Columbia. These statements are based on management's current expectations and estimates; actual results may differ materially due to certain risks and uncertainties. For example, timing of the transactions may be affected by the inability to obtain regulatory or other approvals. For a discussion of additional factors affecting SYSCO, see SYSCO's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.