Dearest Customer Friends,
The safety of our Customer Friends, our suppliers, our vendors and our small team and my family is my single most top priority every day.
Here are the steps we are taking:
- Assessing risk - Our understanding from government sources and the medical community is that this is a person to person spread disease and is not known to spread via objects (packages). See Sources at the end of this blog post.
- We have reviewed safety procedures with our fulfillment centre, Eshipper, in Brampton, Ontario and are in touch with them consistently to coordinate orders. All Canadian orders are shipped from here
- We have reviewed safety procedures with our fulfillment centre, Big Sky Fulfillment, in Missoula, Montana and are in touch with them consistently to coordinate orders. All USA orders are shipped from here
- Both fulfillment centres have implemented preventative measures, demonstrated strong leadership (that's why we chose them as our partners), and have put in place support for employees
- Our own employees and contractors will continue to work remotely
- We are continuing to monitor the news of the coronavirus and taking all recommended precautions from the government
At this time, we do not expect any interruption to our business. We understand that many of our Customer Friends will be taking their own precautionary procedures.
We are concerned about the impact of coronavirus on our fellow small businesses. We will continue to do everything we can to add value to your lives not just through our online store but on Instagram and Facebook. We see an increase in online orders especially for staple items in both stores and I will do my best to ensure that our stores are stocked for your orders as many of our Customer Friends are starting to work from home during this time.
We are relying on the Government of Canada's official update for our news including risk level and recommended precautions.
Thank you for continuing to support our small business during this time and we will do everything we can to support you.
Wishing you and your family safety and health.
With Gratitude,
- Neha and the SwitchGrocery team
References
1) The Centre for Disease Control in the US - FAQ around survivability of coronavirus on surfaces, imported goods, is low
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html
2) Government of Canada, Public Health - FAQ around risk of spread from products and no known risk of coronavirus entering Canada on parcels or packages (Ref2)