COMING TOGETHER
THE FOOD INDUSTRY REWRITES ITS PLAYBOOK ON CRISIS RESPONSE by LESLIE SARASIN
The food industry is no stranger to responding to Our industry rose to the occasion and managed the crisis. With even a modicum of warning signs, grocers challenges that emerged during this national emergency and their supply chain partners are often prepared to and it continues to do so. In real-time, grocers and their handle the natural disasters that sporadically but with supply chain partners had to rewrite their playbooks on increasing regularity take place across the country. crisis response. We can track where a storm is To heighten personal safety going, predict where a fire is and engender a deeper comfort headed, or define the areas being level among associates and affected by a drought. Knowing shoppers, retailers employed these things enables our industry various tactics in their stores to to at least have a notion about implement the critical protocol the timing and the degree of the of maintaining safe social emergency, ensuring customers distances. For example, retailers receive the necessities they need marked six-foot intervals in times of crisis. throughout their stores, installed However, when it comes safety screens when possible, to responding to the national limited the number of customers, emergency brought by the turned some store aisles into COIVD-19 pandemic, the one-way passage, reminded experience has been a truly novel customers of social distancing one for the food industry. For via in-store announcements, and the first time, we weren’t able to expanded pickup and delivery simply redirect supplies to one services when possible. Leslie Sarasin impacted region of the country. Our members are dedicated We couldn’t allocate extra to protecting public health Our industry rose to the human power to ensure stores and as such have taken several reopened quickly to serve their occasion and managed the measures to protect both their neighborhoods. This national associates and customers. challenges that emerged crisis impacted businesses and Grocers have closed their stores communities differently, and early for overnight cleaning during this national it stretched across the entire and stocking and have utilized emergency and country. numerous hours of CDCit continues to do so. Despite these extraordinary approved cleaning and sanitizing obstacles, it’s in times of practices to sterilize high-touch emergency that we realize the surfaces throughout the day. true resiliency of our supply chain. Our industry has As the world continues to respond to the COVID-19 worked around the clock to replenish and restock pandemic, there’s a more urgent need for online shelves, while ensuring the cleanliness of stores and the grocery shopping to reach all customers. Offering safety of its associates. Amid operational hurdles, the online ordering and payment for SNAP customers is an needs of all our customers – including Supplemental important step to address the evolving needs of U.S. Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and WIC grocery digital shoppers and guarantees we leave no shoppers – remained top-of-mind. customer unserved at this critical time. FMI is working 22
RIPON FORUM May 2020
