March 24, 2020
Hello Friends and Family,
A few days ago, we wrote to you regarding what we are doing as an organization to remain during these uncertain and challenging times.
Today the Ontario Government provided a list of Essential Services that are to remain operational. As a Pet Food Supplier we are an essential service and are committed to remaining open for our customers and retail partners.
We also are committed to protect the health and safety of our workers, customers, vendors, and retail partners. Some new steps that we are taking to accomplish this include:
- Temperature checks for all employees before reporting to work (starting March 30th)
- If a worker gets sick or shows symptoms, we are asking them to stay home.
- Continued emphasis on self-isolation and social distancing outside of work.
- No-contact delivery for all deliveries (e.g., no signatures, not ringing doorbells, etc.). Equipping drivers with gloves and disinfecting wipes to be used between stops, as well as disinfecting trucks every night.
- Wipe down and sanitization of all hard surfaces in administrative offices and breakrooms, especially between work teams and shift change
- Adding a production shift to keep work teams to 10 people or less, and taking lunch breaks separately.
- Limiting touch-points between packaging, order fulfillment, delivery and administrative teams to prevent cross-contamination
We have recently seen a significant increase in product purchases; as a result, we have reviewed our current inventory and are anticipating that we will be sold-out of the following items within the next few days.
- Lamb Dinner 4 lb Carton
- Pure Lamb 4 lb Carton
- Beef Tripe 4 lb Carton
- Game Bird Blend 4 lb Carton
- Fare Game Cartons
- Grab N Go Red 12 & Farm 12
To deal with these shortages, we are making the following plans.
- We are discontinuing the sale temporarily of Grab N Go 12 as customers can purchase these items individually, and we are focusing on building stock of all 4 lb Cartons for the next two weeks. We plan to focus our production on re-stocking our most popular proteins; Chicken, Turkey, and Beef. Our plan will help to avoid potential sold-outs of these critical menu items and to allow us to bring back the sale of the Grab N Go 12 boxes as quickly as possible.
- We also will work to re-stock sold-out products (mentioned above) as soon as possible and anticipate no more than a 2-week delay. Please visit our website to see the anticipated re-stocking date for all sold-out items.
Please note that these shortages are not due to any concerns in supply chain or operations but are a result of the sudden increased ordering due to COVID-19. Your patience and understanding is most appreciated as we work to rebuild our inventory and continue to fulfill orders.
Sincerely,
Big Country Raw
March 19, 2020
Dear friends & family,
We understand the growing concern surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19) around the globe and in our local communities and we wanted to provide an update about what Big Country Raw is doing to minimize risk and to ensure a sufficient supply of our products online and in store.
Recently we’ve increased the frequency of cleaning in our administrative offices, production, packaging and order fulfillment areas. As we always have, hand sanitizer is provided in all areas for our staff, customers and associates. We are working closely with our teams to ensure that anyone who is not feeling well understands that we support them staying home.
We will continue to refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and other public health agencies to determine the safest course of action for everyone who is employed by Big Country Raw and our customers who receive delivery or visit our store. This situation continues to evolve quickly, and we will be monitoring it closely.
Based on current guidance and our own standards and practices, we are continuing to make product and fulfill orders with our retail partners and home delivery customers. We are experiencing a high demand as customers are stocking up with concerns about a disruption in the supply chain. We can assure you that we have been in communication with our suppliers and are not anticipating any significant disruptions to our supply of products or packaging at this time. Additionally, we have a good stock of inventory and anticipate being able to meet the increased demands. We do however, encourage our customers to purchase only what is necessary for their immediate needs to ensure there is sufficient supply for everyone.
As mentioned, at this time we are continuing to offer delivery of our products to our retail stores and home delivery customers. Our delivery drivers are taking necessary precautions such as the use of Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer between delivery stops and to minimize their contact with customers. This includes no-contact delivery. For example, we are not ringing doorbells, taking back boxes for reuse or asking for signatures upon delivery. We ask that our retail partners allow our drivers to minimize our contact onsite as well.
Our Smithville retail location will remain open to allow our local customers to pick up product as needed. Our regular retail hours are 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday. Please place orders online so we can serve you efficiently.
We thank you for your continued patience during this challenging time. We are committed to keeping you informed if anything changes so you can plan accordingly.
Sincerely,
Big Country Raw