000617 Kirk Halpern Named Exec VP of Buckhead Beef

Houston, TX - SYSCO Corporation announced that Kirk Halpern, vice president and chief operating officer of Buckhead Beef Company, a SYSCO subsidiary in Atlanta, has been promoted to executive vice president and will continue as chief operating officer. His new position is effective July 2, 2000, the beginning of SYSCO's fiscal year 2001.

Richard J. Schnieders, executive vice president and chief operating officer of SYSCO, said Mr. Halpern, 36, has been involved in the food industry most of his lifetime, beginning as a young man working for Buckhead Beef Company, his family's wholesale food business. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1985 Magna cum Laude from Florida State University in Tallahassee, he earned a law degree in 1988 from Duke University of Law in Durham, North Carolina. Mr. Halpern practiced law for a short time before rejoining his family's business as a member of the sales force in 1989. His responsibilities expanded over the years to positions including sales manager, national account manager, purchasing director and production leader. In August 1999 when Buckhead Beef Company was acquired by SYSCO, he was named to his current position.

During his professional career, Mr. Halpern has served two three-year terms on the Board of Directors of the North American Meat Processors Association. He was born in Miami, Florida and raised in both Miami and Atlanta. He and his wife Lori have a daughter and a son and reside in Atlanta.

Buckhead Beef Company, a Certified Angus Beef distributor, supplies fresh, precision- cut steaks and other specialty meats and protein products to several SYSCO operating companies in the eastern and southeastern United States, as well as restaurants and hotels in 17 states.

SYSCO is the largest foodservice marketing and distribution organization in North America. Generating projected sales in excess of $19 billion for fiscal 2000, the company provides food and related products and services to about 325,000 to 350,000 customers. The SYSCO distribution network, supported by over 39,000 employees, currently extends throughout the entire contiguous United States and Alaska, as well as portions of Canada.

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