Consumer Brands Association is requesting uniformity throughout the supply chain.
The Consumer Brands Association’s (CBA) president and CEO, Geoff Freeman, is looking for uniformity. He and the other CBA members are battling to manage the numerous supply chain interruptions brought on by state and municipal governments acting to stop the virus’s spread as they deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
It has aided since a directive from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on March 19 listed the production of food and agriculture as one of 16 essential infrastructure sectors. The guidelines were essential because they allowed important infrastructure sectors to continue operating and staff to continue working while state and municipal authorities ordered businesses to close and residents to stay at home. The fact that state and local governments must implement CISA’s guidelines in order for enterprises that are deemed essential to continue operating complicates the situation.
“Last week’s big issue was getting policymakers to understand food and agriculture’s role as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure,” Mr. Freeman stated in a Food Business News interview. “Getting inputs to those factories has been the problem this week. It goes beyond food and agriculture. The aluminum can is what many different businesses depend on. It’s the closed nature of the label producers. Labels are essential to this sector because nearly every product that is produced has one. We are assisting legislators in comprehending the entirety of the value chain.
According to Mr. Freeman, his top three goals are maintaining the nation’s highways and rails open to allow goods to reach consumers, keeping facilities operating, and getting labor to the facilities.
He remarked, “We’re lucky to have collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security on language demonstrating food and agriculture is essential infrastructure.” We may begin by drawing attention to that, but we’re fighting a lot of flames. Once issues are brought up, lawmakers are receptive, but it takes us 24 to 48 hours to bring up issues and find solutions.
Two other major issues that the CBA is addressing are transportation and employee safety. According to Mr. Freeman, the industry requires additional clarification from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding what businesses need to do in the event that an employee tests positive for COVID-19. He cited a New York City publication outlining the protocol for treating medical personnel in the event of a virus exposure.
He claimed that “it [the NYC document] is very prescriptive about what to do.” “It is regrettable that we have not received such prescriptive guidance at the federal level.”
Because the country’s supply chain crosses multiple state and local municipal borders—some of which are enforcing orders compelling citizens to remain indoors and businesses to close—transportation is a problem.
“There have been a few hiccups,” Mr. Freeman stated. The governor of Pennsylvania banned truck stops. Hotels are closing in other locations. After a long day, what should a truck driver do if they need a place to sleep?
Mr. Freeman believes that two concerns that will require future consideration are hiring practices and international trade.
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“We are concentrating on the trade side and getting ingredients into the country as we adjust to the new normal, which we are,” he stated. “We are receiving less entries from China and other countries. Those are problems that require attention.
We must additionally address the burden on the labor force. People will burn out since they are all giving it their all at work. We need to come up with strategies to connect with workers who have lost their employment.
Since taking over the CBA 20 months ago, Mr. Freeman has acknowledged that COVID-19 has put the food and agriculture sectors in unfamiliar ground.
“Let us recognize that this represents the largest change to an industry’s supply chain that any of us has ever encountered,” he remarked. “This is a desire for Thanksgiving spanning several weeks. The supply chain has never had to meet a demand of this kind before, therefore it was unprepared.
“The supply chain is demonstrating its resilience. The industry has changed remarkably. There is a “all hands on deck” mentality, demonstrating how the food supply chain currently serves as the foundation of American society.