The Tribune

By NATARIO

McKENZIE

Tribune Business

Reporter

nmckenzie@

tribunemedia.net

Bahamian-owned food wholesalers would inevitably be “undercut” on price if Bahamas Food Services (BFS) were to be acquired by the multi-billion dollar Texas giant, Sysco, one warning yesterday that he could not see the deal getting government approval without Bahamian participation.

Patrick Treco, managing director of Continental Foods, told Tribune Business that if a deal between Sysco and BFS were to happen, it could be detrimental to rival Bahamian wholesalers.

“That’s going to undercut the wholesalers because these are people we are already buying from in the United States. If we are sourcing stuff from them, as is now, they could come in and undercut us,” said Mr Treco.

“One of the key issues I have a problem with is the food industry is reserved for Bahamians, so I don’t know how that [a BFS/Sysco deal] is to happen unless they do a share deal where Bahamians buy into the company.

“Other than that I can’t see the Government approving that when the food and agriculture industries are reserved for Bahamians only.”

Tribune Business revealed last week that Sysco was back looking to acquire (BFS), the Gladstone Road based wholesaler/distributor.

Sysco had initially expressed interest in BFS back in 2004-2005. The initial deal, which was mulled under the first Christie administration ,never came to fruition, partly because the  Government was reluctant to grant approval for it in an industry supposedly reserved for 100 per cent Bahamian ownership only.  

But Phil Lightbourne, head of Phil’s Food Services, last week backed any takeover by Sysco, a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listed company with $37 billion in annual sales.

He said it would benefit both Bahamian consumers and small food retailers. Suggesting that only BFS, with the backing of someone like Sysco, would be able to meet the demands of both Atlantis and Baha Mar when the latter opened, Mr Lightbourne said Sysco’s product offering and purchasing power would reduce prices in the Bahamas.

And he added that Sysco was also prepared to offer Bahamians shares via a Bahamian Depository Receipt (BDR) offering.

  Mr Treco, speaking to his company’s performance in the wholesale industry over the past few years, said: “The last two years have been rough. What I have found is that a lot of people who we buy from out of the US have come into our market and are selling to the smaller guy at the same price we were buying at. It has been rough for us.”