The planning did not stop within the confines of its property lines. John D’Arrigo and fellow industry leader Bruce Taylor of Taylor Farms California serve on a task force with the CEOs of the four area hospitals to plan for farmworkers who come down with the coronavirus. In the early days of the pandemic, federal authorities were projecting that there could be millions of cases nationwide. The Salinas ag community thought it was prudent to develop locations where workers could be quarantined to prevent their families and their communities from turning into hot spots. D’Arrigo also contracted with a local taxi company to be on call to pick up any sick workers and deliver them to the hospital or these shelter-in-place locations. From a macro level, John D’Arrigo believes the coronavirus pandemic is a bellwether event that is changing the industry in ways that will be felt for years to come. He wonders how the foodservice industry will alter its operations and what changes in the supply chain will occur to safely deliver fresh produce to their customers. He believes this pandemic will accelerate automation at the production end as there are fewer farmworkers available to do the work and the need to social distance could be with us for a long time. He also agreed that smaller operations might find it difficult to absorb the extra costs associated with creating safe environments during a
pandemic and there could well be more industry consolidation. In fact, D’Arrigo says this pandemic has exposed the produce industry’s fluctuating supply and demand pricing system as outdated. He said these are real costs associated with keeping everyone safe and there has to be a way to pass them on to the consumer. “There are many long-term costs and we have to be able to recover them. How do we recoup them? We can no longer afford to sell our products below cost…ever.” At the same time, he said the industry must be very adaptive and change with the times. “Our philosophy is to move fast and be first,” he said. Ocean Mist Farms, Castroville, CA Joe Pezzini, CEO of Ocean Mist, detailed many of the same precautions that this grower-shipper took to operate under pandemic conditions. “We are no different than the rest of the essential businesses that had to change operations to stay in business,” he said. “It wasn’t easy and there were new challenges at every turn.” First and foremost, the company endeavored to keep its employees safe at its two operation in Monterey and Riverside counties. “The pandemic greatly impacted every phase of our operation. In the first place, as many as could are working remotely. We established physical
distancing and the wearing of masks and mandated that there would be no gatherings of employees in the office or in the fields. We have been diligent in enforcing those policies.” In the field, Ocean Mist modified its equipment, including the use of dividers on its harvesters and erected physical barriers in its packing and cooling sheds to keep people apart. “And we developed protocols to question every employee every day about their health.” Along with other produce firms, and through the local grower-shipper association, Ocean Mist secured space at local hotels to house and quarantine ill workers. From a business standpoint, Pezzini said the early panic buying by consumers altered the supply chain but that righted itself within several weeks. “We are now back to season norms,” he said in early June, but he added that the pandemic has had a material economic impact on Ocean Mist and all producers. “We’ve had to make constant adjustments. Prior to this, there was a trend toward a more natural display at retail. And now it has swung back to packaging.” In addition, he said some staple items received a shot in the arm while specialty items, including artichokes, took a hit initially. Pezzini spoke as the country was starting to open back up and he predicted that June would be an important gauge as to how quickly the world gets back to normal, if there is such a thing. He also agreed that the pandemic has brought about some permanent changes. He believes some of the safety protocols will not go away as it is best to be prepared for the next wave of this coronavirus or the next virus. “We think working at home will also stick with us for a while. In fact, there will be a certain segment of our population—older workers and those at risk—who are going to be working at home permanently or at least until there is a vaccine. That’s what CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) are saying. I don’t think we will ever go back to exactly how things were.” Pezzini said business travel will also take time to return but return it will. “Definitely business is going to change, but this is still a people business.”
Broccoli Rabe Harvesting Machine
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JULY | AUGUST 2020
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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