March 19, 2020
To all our valued wholesale and retail customers,
I want to assure you that PFSbrands is continuing to distribute products and we are available to assist you as needed. At this point, despite slightly higher demand than usual, we do not anticipate any supply or product shortages on our foodservice items.
Our Support – Your Success!
We understand that you are on the front lines to ensure consumers have access to the necessary goods needed. We’re committed to keeping inventory in your stores while also ensuring that we do everything possible to protect the health and safety of our employee owners.
What we’re hearing from various parts of the country:
- Supermarkets are extremely busy with volume surges equaling double, triple, and four+ times their normal volume.
- As supermarkets are depleted of inventory, convenience stores are also seeing increased traffic and demand primarily due to consumers searching for sanitation related items.
- All distribution centers are dealing with significant demand along with pressure to put protective measures in place to help suppress the spread of COVID-19.
- Distribution centers and retailers are dealing with employees who are working long hours and these employees are concerned about their safety.
- Many states are shutting down free standing restaurants or only allowing them to service consumers via drive thru or take out.
What PFSbrands is doing:
Effective Thursday March 19th thru March 22nd, PFSbrands has requested for many employee owners to work from home. Further, if an employee owner’s job is not business critical, we have asked that they stay home. Business critical positions such as production workers, warehouse workers, drivers, and critical office positions are reporting to work. Internal precautions have been taken to ensure that we are providing these employee owners with the safest environment possible. We are following guidance from federal, state, and local agencies, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Association (WHO). Only employee owners of PFSbrands are allowed in our buildings at this time, no visitors.
In addition to our internal team, our Business Developers and Business Advisors in the field have been asked to limit travel to only those locations that are necessary. We are still planning to conduct new store openings in most areas.
Advice for wholesale customers:
Where possible, we encourage you to place orders necessary to increase safety stock of key PFSbrands products to ensure that you can meet demand from your retail customers. This best practice will help minimize any supply chain disruptions that may occur.
Advice for retail operators:
We do not expect federal or state government agencies to mandate a shutdown for supermarkets and convenience stores. However, we cannot say that with 100% certainty. We are seeing other restaurants and bars being forced to close, so that will likely drive more demand into your locations. In order to operate safely and continue to do your part to serve your consumers we recommend the following:
- Continuous disinfecting of operating areas and common areas.
- Professional use of foodservice gloves at all times.
- More frequent washing of hands with soap and water, particularly for those employees that come into frequent contact with consumers and that work directly with food.
- Avoid contact with other co-workers and customers – social distancing.
- Consider preparing some additional grab n go items so consumers can pick up products without interacting.
- Consider a curbside service so consumers do not need to enter your store.
- Ensure that your staff knows to not come to work if they feel sick.
- Always stress the importance of good hygiene practices.
- Stay calm and emphasize this with your team.
I recognize that this is a very challenging time. We remain available to support you with anything you may need on your end. Please call our Customer Success Team at (855) 632-3373 or email us at Customer.Success@PFSbrands.com if we can help in any way. Remember that we can not only support with operational help, our Human Resources staff is equipped to help with the many questions that will arise as a result of COVID-19. In these times, it is important that we work together to overcome this as quickly as possible.
Shawn Burcham
Founder & CEO