New Procedures At Intercity Packers Meat & Seafood BC

The people of Intercity Packers are serving our customers and communities with dedication and professionalism as the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada. Our senior leadership, supported by our cross-functional crisis management team, is continuing to take decisive action to ensure we maintain focus and support for our core priorities during the crisis. Those priorities are:

• The health and safety of our people, customers, and communities
• Serving our customers to the very best of our ability under these challenging conditions
• Supporting health officials and government leaders as they work to contain the virus

The execution of our pandemic plan, following guidelines from the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), the Canadian federal governments, and the World Health Organization (WHO), has helped ensure our company and our operations continue to be strong, effective, and resilient. A selective summary of priorities and steps taken to date include:

• Actions Intercity Packers and our employees are taking to prevent the spread of the virus
• Policies and plans to identify and respond to any future suspected cases of the coronavirus within our workforce and facilities
• Procedures to more efficiently manage workload and service our customers during the pandemic
• Processes to foresee and prevent potential disruptions in our supply chain
• Temporary cost reduction measures to ensure our company remains financially strong and resilient
• Plans and best practices to communicate with our employees, customers, and business partners

Beginning on Monday April 27, 2020, all employees and visitors who enter our Intercity Packers facility will be required to submit to a temperature screening. A company representative will conduct the screening using a questionnaire and a no-touch thermometer. Anyone refusing a temperature screening will not be allowed into the facility.

Temperature screenings are being widely implemented by many organizations because of the unique circumstances imposed by COVID-19. Likewise, during this pandemic, we want to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our employees and partners.

Among our precautionary actions, all business travel is suspended until further notice. Further, all employee leisure travel is strongly discouraged, with those returning from designated high-risk regions, or in close contact with others recently in those areas required to self-isolate for 14 days before physically returning to work. Likewise, if employees of your organization have traveled in affected regions or had contact with others who have, we ask that any meetings with those individuals be via teleconference or rescheduled to a later time. We have also prohibited visitors at our facilities unless they are deemed business-critical.

As we manage the pandemic’s impact, we are seeing increasing demand on select categories and items beyond the current production capacity of manufacturers. In response, we’ve moved some items to restricted status, limiting availability to specific healthcare and education customers, consistent with our responsibility to support our most vulnerable populations during the crisis.

Over the coming weeks, it is foreseeable that the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding government actions to slow the spread of transmission will put increased strain on the supply chain. At this time, we have quickly responded to changing conditions and remain operational. We want to take this opportunity, however, to set expectations as we consider what could happen in the near future. There is the possibility that stress on the supply chain could affect our ability to service customers in the manner in which you are accustomed. We are working diligently to minimize the impact of supply chain disruptions on our customers. Should there be a disruption, we will notify you as soon as possible and continue to work with you to the best of our ability. At that point, you should be prepared to accept modified services or use alternative supply sources until such time as we can resume full services.

During the pandemic, Intercity Packers customers providing emergency response and healthcare will continue to be given the highest priority. Our company will also abide by the directions of government authorities and health agencies, consistent with the formal declaration of a State of Emergency.

While these coming weeks will continue to be difficult for our nation and our customers, be assured Intercity Packers and our people are strong, prepared, resilient, and fully committed to providing the excellent service and product quality that has been our hallmark for five decades. If you have any questions, please contact your sales representative.

As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve your business.