Petition Surpasses 1,000 Signatures as Independent Operators Submit Evidence to Encourage Anti-Trust Review by the FTC
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 6th, 2026) — The Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) is calling on the the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block Sysco Corporation’s proposed $29.1 billion acquisition of Jetro Holdings, parent company of Restaurant Depot, warning it would hand unprecedented pricing power over essential goods to the nation’s largest food distributor.
The IRC has formally urged the FTC to stop the merger, arguing that it would eliminate the most meaningful, nationwide alternative independent restaurants use to check distributor pricing on everyday staples.
Momentum is accelerating as a national petition issued by IRC opposing the merger has surpassed 1,000 signatures from independent restaurant owners and operators across the country. The IRC has also launched a nationwide survey to collect real-world evidence from independent operators across the country, including pricing patterns, supplier behavior, and the role of Restaurant Depot as a competitive alternative to support the case for a thorough anti-trust review.
For decades, independent restaurants have relied on two primary channels for essential goods like cooking oil, flour, cleaning supplies, and packaging: broadline distributors such as Sysco and cash-and-carry wholesalers like Restaurant Depot. That competition is what keeps prices in check. Remove it, and Sysco sets the price.
"Independent restaurant operators are already facing dramatic price increases, shifting surcharges, inconsistent inventory, and rigid purchasing terms — with minimal ability to push back ," said Erika Polmar, Executive Director of the IRC. "What regulators need to understand is that Restaurant Depot is often the only leverage operators have against broadline distributors. Eliminating that competition through this merger is precisely the kind of market power expansion we're documenting with this survey.”
Restaurant Depot has long served as a pressure valve for independent operators — a place to verify pricing, avoid contracts, and maintain leverage in supplier negotiations. Eliminating that option would fundamentally shift the balance of power in the food supply chain.
Restaurant Depot isn't just a wholesaler. It's the reason Sysco has to think twice before raising prices. The moment that competition disappears, independent restaurants lose the only leverage they have, and there's nothing standing between them and whatever Sysco decides to charge.
The proposed transaction would combine Sysco’s delivery network, serving more than 700,000 foodservice operators, with Restaurant Depot’s 166 warehouse locations across 35 states, which serve approximately 725,000 independent restaurants annually. The combined company would generate nearly $100 billion in revenue, further concentrating market power in a sector already under significant financial pressure.
Independent operators routinely use both Sysco and Restaurant Depot interchangeably for the same categories of goods. Eliminating that competition would increase costs for independent restaurants at a time when many are already facing rising food prices, labor pressures, and razor-thin margins.
The IRC is urging independent restaurant operators nationwide to complete the survey within the next week and to help inform and encourage a thorough FTC investigation.
About the Independent Restaurant Coalition
The Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) is the national voice for independent restaurants and bars. Founded in March 2020, the IRC advocates for policies that protect independent operators from the economic forces that threaten their survival, including rising costs, consolidation, and an uneven regulatory playing field. The IRC ensures that the owners and operators who anchor their communities have a place in federal policy conversations that directly affect their businesses.