Many of the entities that make up US Foods were founded in the 19th century, including one that sold provisions to travelers heading west during the 1850s gold rush.

The company employs approximately 25,200 people in more than 60 locations nationwide and provides food and related products to more than 250,000 customers, including independent and multi-unit restaurants, healthcare and hospitality entities, government and educational institutions.

By 1891, Sexton began manufacturing private label pickles, salad dressings, preserves, and jellies as well as roasting coffee in downtown Chicago.

In addition, Sexton established a food testing laboratory to guarantee that his products had a uniform high level of quality.

He also developed an extensive national institutional sales force in all major metropolitan areas, and a catalog mail order grocery business.

By 1930, Sexton dropped the catalog mail order business and concentrated on the institutional customers throughout the United States.

In 1968, Sexton warehouses and truck fleets were located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Francisco with a regional salesforce covering the majority of the United States.

Yet, the two companies failed to reach agreement on several factors, including valuation (JP's stock price had gone up in expectation of the merger), structure, and dilution of earnings to existing shareholders, and the deal fell through in February 1996.

The experience left both sides bitter, and JP was expected to find a way to reduce Sara Lee's presence or end its investment in the company all together.

U.S. Foodservice, Inc., was formed in March 1992 by Unifax, Inc.,[citation needed] specifically to acquire the White Swan, Inc., a Dallas-based distributor.

[14] On August 13, 2010, U.S. Foodservice announced that John A. Lederer was appointed president and chief executive officer effective September 8, 2010.

[43] As part of its rebranding in October 2011, the company changed the name of its North Star Foodservice divisions to US Foods.

[44] U.S. Foodservice owned seven other custom meat cutters at the time and wanted to add a company with a solid reputation to its mix.

Other pluses in acquiring Stock Yards were that company's strong management and labor force, their excellent customer service;[citation needed] reputation for high-quality products,[citation needed] and the fact that Stock Yards was a certified Angus beef distributor.

Dan Pollack stated at the time of the acquisition that he hoped to use Stock Yards' expertise to streamline and standardize the meat cutting operations of US Foods.