The year 2021 was a rough one, to say the least. But what was at the forefront of everyone’s mind? The health and safety of our industry’s most valuable asset: employees. Look back at how mask mandates, vaccine requirements and a multitude of other unforeseen variables kept the industry on its toes.
Making the SEPC Southern Exposure conference as COVID-safe as possible
March 22
Amy Sowder
SEPC Southern Exposure show organizers had tough decisions the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was so uncertain what was necessary to maintain health and safety.
In a way, that uncertainty has returned to what might be the other end, as more and more people receive vaccinations and quarantine restrictions lift.
People need people, and that’s especially true in the produce industry. And yet, no show organizer wants to indirectly cause a spike in infections, severe cases or death.
COVID-19 compliance costs tracked by Washington State University
April 5
INDUSTRY PRESS RELEASE
In a recently completed survey by the IMPACT Center at Washington State University, Washington State farm family’s direct compliance outlays to manage COVID-19 were roughly $2,532 per month.
The efforts spent appear to be working for both growers and packers in protecting the employees and operators from infection. The primary concerns of both remain employee health, but efficiency losses are the second-largest concern for packers, while the second-largest concern for growers remains direct compliance costs.
Growers and packers were more than concerned about employee health and liability when outside the safety controls on the farm or packing operation.
What COVID-19 taught us about handling a crisis
The Packer
July 14
While there are continuing calls for building a more resilient global supply chain in a post-COVID-19 world, fresh produce companies can learn from this crisis and take steps to both mitigate impacts from future crises and prepare for them, whether in global markets, environment/climate issues or labor shortages. The goal is to learn from the strengths associated with success during the pandemic and build them into an organization’s culture, training, education and normal mode of operation.
NYC foodservice suppliers uncertain about new indoor-dining vaccine rule
August 6
Amy Sowder
New York City will be the first city in the U.S. to require people to show proof of vaccination to dine indoors at restaurants, as well as use gyms and theaters, causing a ripple effect of responses as the area’s produce wholesalers wait to see how their foodservice demand will react.
“Now, without training, our staff members are expected to check the vaccine status of every customer wanting to eat inside the establishment,” Larry Lynch, senior vice president of science and industry for the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement. “Last year, when mask mandates across the country were put in place, restaurant workers suffered terrifying backlash when enforcing those rules. The association’s ServSafe experts had to go so far as to create a conflict de-escalation training module to support those front-of-house workers dealing with customer push-back.”
“We hope that the city will take this into consideration and will work with us to ensure there is clear guidance and support for our workforce,” he said.
PMA issues update on COVID-19 precautions at Fresh Summit
August 13
Tom Karst
Cathy Burns, CEO of the Produce Marketing Association, issued an update on COVID-19-related precautions as plans continue for an in-person Fresh Summit in New Orleans, set for Oct. 28-30.
In a short video released Aug. 13, Burns talked about preparations for the event.
2021 Produce Industry Compensation report offers insight on pandemic pay
August 24
Tom Karst
Revealing wage trends during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Fresh Produce Association has published the sixth edition of its Produce Industry Compensation & Benefits Report.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses of all sizes throughout the fresh produce industry to readdress how they manage and compensate their workforce,” said Mike McGee, United Fresh’s Finance & Business Management Council chairman and vice president of finance for L&M Companies.
The survey reports the weighted average salary increase in the industry for the current fiscal year and the expected increase for the next fiscal year.
USDA invests $700 million in grants to provide relief to farm and food workers impacted by COVID-19
Sept. 7
INDUSTRY PRESS RELEASE
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that $700 million in competitive grant funding will be available through the new Farm and Food Workers Relief grant program to help farmworkers and meatpacking workers with pandemic-related health and safety costs.
The program will provide relief to farmworkers, meatpacking workers, and front-line grocery workers for expenses incurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This relief is intended to defray costs for reasonable and necessary personal, family, or living expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as costs for personal protective equipment, dependent care, and expenses associated with quarantines and testing related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
USDA’s $650 million COVID-related program falls short, NPC says
Sept. 9
Tom Karst
The USDA announced it has allocated $650 million for the new Pandemic Response and Safety Grant program.
The National Potato Council praised the intention of the new program, but said it has limitations.
Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, said in the release that by limiting relief only to small entities, the program leaves out the vast majority of agricultural employers, particularly in the high-cost specialty crop industry, who incurred substantial expenses in protecting their workforce.
“COVID-19 made no distinction in its threat to farmworkers and other essential employees at small, medium or large farms,” Quarles said.
NGA delivers plea for help with labor, trucking shortage and retail concentration
Nov. 4
Tom Karst
Putting trucking issues and concerns about retail concentration in the crosshairs, the extraordinary transportation and labor pressures on the food supply chain were the focus of an hours-long House Agriculture Committee hearing on Nov. 3.
“Inadequate labor availability has become the single greatest challenge to the entire food supply chain,” Greg Ferrara, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association said. “As the pandemic has worn on, grocers and wholesalers have increasingly struggled to fill open positions throughout grocery operations, including warehouse workers, truck drivers, stockers, clerks, and the higher-skilled positions around the store perimeter, like butchers, chefs, bakers, and deli managers.”
U.S. Department of Labor issues emergency temporary standard to protect workers from coronavirus
Nov. 7
INDUSTRY PRESS RELEASE
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced a new emergency temporary standard to protect more than 84 million workers from the spread of the coronavirus on the job.
The nation’s unvaccinated workers face grave danger from workplace exposure to COVID-19, and immediate action is necessary to protect them.
OSHA suspends activities related to vaccine mandate
Nov. 17
Tom Karst
On Nov. 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), published Nov. 5.
According to the agency’s website, the court ordered that OSHA “take no steps to implement or enforce” the ETS “until further court order.”
Report documents the scale of COVID-19 impacts on trucking
Nov. 23
INDUSTRY PRESS RELEASE
The American Transportation Research Institute released the findings of its 2021 update to “An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking” report. While truck driver wages increased from 2019 to 2020, benefits costs per mile decreased. Overall truck driver compensation was 73.7 cents per mile. Separately, safety and retention bonuses increased by 10.5 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively, but starting bonuses dropped by 10 percent – reflecting the soft driver marketplace in early 2020 for many sectors.
Distributors cope with COVID-19
Dec. 3
Tom Burfield
“We took every precaution that we had to when it came to COVID,” said Corey Calixtro, sales coordinator for Calixtro Distributing Inc., Rio Rico, Ariz.
Once the owners of Nogales, Ariz.,-based Earth Blend LLC realized that the virus was spreading, they shut down the offices and asked the sales staff to work remotely, said Steve Spence, director of sales.
Sasha Lewton, director of sales and marketing, said Rio Rico-based Farmer’s Best International LLC was fortunate that it had no significant COVID-19 outbreak in Mexico, despite its large workforce there.
At Produce House in Nogales, staff members alternated working at home and going into the office. Those who were on-site were situated 6 feet apart, said Raquel Espinoza, director of sales and marketing.
