WA Grower Magazine Winter 2020

Page 72

YOUR BUSINESS

Adapting quickly

as a food supplier to a pandemic crisis BY JOE LEDERMAN EXECUTIVE CHAIRPERSON, FOODLEGAL

I

n April 2007, FoodLegal was commissioned by Australia’s Department of Agriculture to provide a literature review of historical models for equitable food distribution for the scenario of a pandemic.

The observations and thoughts in this article, provided by FoodLegal Executive Chairperson Joe Lederman, fall outside the terms of reference of the FoodLegal 2007 report but are only intended to stimulate ideas that may assist food businesses in these difficult times.

This same article appeared on 7 March 2020 in Foodlegal Bulletin just as Australia entered the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Many of the author’s predictions have eventuated or are still occurring as part of the new reality in the Australian food industry.

3 EMPTY shelves can be attributed to the systemic problem that our usual retail supply efficiencies require inventory stock levels to be kept to minimum levels.

Many suppliers have limited reserves and normally run materials to a minimum.

70

WA Grower WINTER 2020

The existing business ailments, symptoms and their diagnosis 1 Empty shelves Shoppers will have noticed an emptying out of stock at supermarkets and pharmacies. However, it would be wrong to blame the stripping of shelves to greed or selfish consumers. Primarily, it is attributable to the systemic problem that our usual retail supply efficiencies require inventory stock levels to be kept to minimum levels. The concept of just-in-time production, delivery and display are in-built into our supply chains and retail modes of operation. Likewise, many suppliers have limited reserves and normally run materials to a minimum to account for an 'average' safety stock at best. A domino effect is therefore created.


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Articles inside

Growing butternut pumpkins

10min
pages 114-117

Product provenance

5min
pages 112-113

Australian and Asian vegetables

8min
pages 109-111

Export Facilitators Project update

7min
pages 106-108

Regional mental health

8min
pages 102-105

Juggling training

6min
pages 94-95

DWER licensing needs

3min
pages 98-99

drumMUSTER operations update

3min
pages 100-101

How to stay connected

5min
pages 96-97

Keeping your business going

3min
pages 92-93

Is your business in good shape?

7min
pages 90-91

vegetablesWA benchmarking

6min
pages 88-89

Report sheds light on profitability

4min
pages 86-87

Growing the labour supply

3min
pages 82-83

Redundancy rights and entitlements

5min
pages 84-85

Ahead of the curve

3min
pages 78-79

Labour hire providers

3min
pages 80-81

Will you miss out on labour?

4min
pages 76-77

Adapting to a pandemic crisis

10min
pages 72-75

Points of interest

1min
pages 70-71

Indonesian promotions wrapup

1min
page 69

Protecting our business

2min
page 63

R&D goes on-line

2min
page 64

From the industry

2min
page 62

Social media strategy

2min
pages 60-61

Tips to keep apples fresh in retail

2min
pages 58-59

Challenges of harvest 2020

3min
page 57

Chair’s chat

4min
page 56

Potato nachos

2min
pages 52-53

Executive Officer’s Report

2min
page 48

New Hort Innovation position in WA

2min
pages 46-47

VegNET IEO Update

4min
pages 44-45

Melon variety trials go virtual

3min
pages 42-43

Celebrating our WA Food Heroes

3min
pages 36-37

Aus-QUAL food safety audit update

3min
page 41

Total Quality Assurance Systems

1min
page 40

Avocado fruit drop investigations

9min
pages 26-29

Unrestricted pumping in Carnarvon

3min
pages 38-39

How to examine your soil structure

5min
pages 32-35

Sanitation in the food industry

4min
pages 24-25

The value of pollination

2min
pages 22-23

Tomato spotted wilt virus

5min
pages 14-15

Mixed species cover crops

4min
pages 20-21

CEO’s Report

2min
pages 6-7

Fall armyworm in Western Australia

4min
pages 10-11

Weed cost

1min
page 19

Fresh produce dual-action coating

5min
pages 16-18

Queensland fruit fly eradication

5min
pages 12-13

President’s Report

4min
pages 8-9
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