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News

CoViD-19: mobilization of the tomato industry (4) March 31 UPDATE

31/03/2020 - Press release , François-Xavier Branthôme - CoViD-19 , 2020 Season

Information received from companies around the world

While containment measures now affect half of the world's population, the agro-food industries continue to function to ensure the basic supplies of the populations. Our tomato processing industry is no exception and strives, from the fields that are currently being planted to supermarket shelves, to function normally while protecting its staff and ensuring the continuity of manufacturing and deliveries despite the many difficulties and constraints.
Tomato News receives daily testimonies from industry players which show that our industry is participating in the global effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic; because information can contribute to responsible management of this crisis situation, Tomato News will continue to publish these testimonies received from companies and professional structures around the world.

This article will be updated throughout the week as information is sent to us spontaneously by our contacts.

Australia: March 31, 2020
SPC Ardmona running out of tomatoes to can

Australia's leading fruit, baked bean, and spaghetti processor says it is canning and packaging as fast as it can but running out of raw product after waves of panic buying. The SPC plea to focus on food security and address policy failures that have left Australia with a food processor of global scale comes as it tries to source additional supplies of local tomatoes.

SPC chairman Hussein Rifai said sales of canned and packaged fruit, tomatoes, baked beans and spaghetti had gone crazy, with product now being loaded straight from production lines at Shepparton in regional Victoria on to trucks. Supermarkets have imposed limits on canned food purchases and SPC is running 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up.
SPC has stopped making varieties of core products so that the production line can run flat out, but is reaching the point where there is no fruit or tomatoes left to process. “We’re running just straight down the line tomato, no frills, no bells and whistles, so we can basically optimise our factory performance,” Mr Rifai said. Mr Rifai said there is no specific Commonwealth legislation that provides the government with authority to regulate or manage the manufacture, distribution or sale of food in the event of a significant disruption to either local production or imports. As well as canned and packaged food products, Australia is running low on pasta with imports from Italy disrupted and is no longer self-sufficient in rice.

SPC has split its workforce into four teams to help guard against any COVID-19 outbreak that would curb production as it searches for additional supplies of produce to meet increased demand. "We have the potential to increase capacity. The only problem is that as much as we would like, the apple tree won't generate more apples and the pear tree won't generate more pears," Mr Rifai said.
"Once you use up all the tomato, there's no more until another season. In the case of tomatoes, we're trying to find additional supplies and we're going as fast as we can in terms of processing the fruit that is coming through the gates."

Spain, March 30, 2020
Conesa: “We will do everything in our power to continue supplying goods”

“Dear Customer,
The Government of Spain has taken today 29th March 2020 additional measurements with the aim to reinforce the ones already taken two weeks ago for stopping the spread of the COVID-19 Outbreak. Basically, it has been increased the number of activities, those classified as not essentials, that need to be suspended till next 9th April. Our activity is within the so-called of special consideration for its participation in the value chain that allows the guarantee of food supply. Therefore, we will continue, as until now, with our activities and we will do everything in our power to continue supplying goods.

On another hand, works in the greenhouse and land preparation are in progress and everything is ready to start this week transplanting in Extremadura. In Andalucía transplanting started three weeks ago and it is progressing smoothly, of course taking all the preventive measurements and with all the difficulties that brings this special situation.

Right now, the main concern of Grupo Conesa is trying to guarantee the health of all our employees and the continuity of business activity. To this end, we have taken different preventive measurements.

All those people from the administrative, quality, logistics, commercial, technical and Human Resources services who can work from home are doing so from 15th March.

The entrance of any external person that is not essential for the continuity of the activity has been prohibited.

A strict control protocol has been activated for truck and container drivers.

In relation to employees who are in field, greenhouse, production, maintenance and expeditions, a strict protocol of preventive measurement has been developed and the main measures taken are: compliance with hygiene measures; what to do if they have symptoms, working hours have been reorganized to avoid a high concentration of people; the canteen has been limited to a maximum of 5 people at a time; everything has been organized to keep a safety distance of 2 meters; in the goods preparation area two work shifts have been established to divide the staff in half; daily disinfection of the common areas is being carried out and the cleaning of the same has been reinforced; employees cannot share a vehicle to attend work,…
In any case, the fact of having 7 production centres in different locations where the products produced in the campaign are stored and 3 production centres where tomato powder is produced represents an element of security in the event of emergency conditions.

In recent days there is a movement around the world tending to increase the levels of stocks and in some cases due to the massive supply of the population, we have registered a significant increase in orders, which is why sometimes we find ourselves with a lack of trucks and / or containers to supply in a timely manner, so we ask for a little patience and understanding.
We will continue to monitor the situation very closely and will proceed to implement any measure in our hands to continue supplying our products.

For any questions or needs do not hesitate to contact your contact person at Grupo Conesa.
Take care and stay safe.
Best regards”
Villafranco del Guadiana, 29th March 2020
Manuel Vázquez Calleja
CEO

Italy, March 27, 2020
Mutti: “To reward the silent work of the workers”

Mutti: increases the wages of its employees and donates 500 000 euros to the Parma hospital

Francesco Mutti recently criticized the Italian government's help for self-employed workers and explained "now a plan is needed to revive the economy”: for its part, he has “increased the waged of [its] employees by a quarter because there is a need to reward those who come to the factory because they cannot work from home".

The Mutti group also decided to fight this health emergency “on the ground”. The group has decided to donate € 500,000 to the Parma hospital-university company that is constantly working on the front line against Covid-19. This need for intervention was highlighted more and more in front of the numbers that the hospital makes available for the daily update of the emergency.

In addition, the Mutti group also wanted to give support to its employees. Those who are allowing production continuity these days will see a 25% increase in their wages. For workers, extra insurance coverage for Covid-19 has also been activated. “I believe in a company that also aims at the personal growth of its employees. Today we had no signs of significant absenteeism so our decision did not depend on that. But it is an important recognition for those who continue to work in this period and have no possibility of doing it remotely" - says Francesco Mutti. "We are seeing a truly atypical increase in sales. On the one hand there is the fear of consumers to remain without stocks, an almost atavistic fear; on the other we have a change in consumption and therefore more domestic cuisine for those who previously ate meals mainly outside the home ".

“If today the whole food production and sales system holds, and the products in supermarkets can be guaranteed, it is thanks to a silent work of the workers who constantly carry out their task. At this moment, individual responsibility, in addition to institutional responsibility, is fundamental ".

Sources: afr.com, Conesa, milanoevents.it

Some complementary data

COVID 19 CONESA Statement 290320

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