Even with all the advantages demonstrated by new technologies, no one expects this pandemic situation to last forever.
Yet both the produce industry and foodservice operators are more eager than most for a return to normalcy.
“The bottom line is that we need to continue to sell in person,” says Alex Di Novo, president and chief executive officer of D N O, Inc. BB #:134515 in Columbus, OH.
“We knew we had to be sharper in the social media space, and we needed to really create and live in new channels. But even though we’ve gained efficiencies, our business is easier to conduct face-to-face, and it’s just better done in person.”
There is widespread agreement among businesses that the sooner the crisis ends, the better, and small businesses in particular—many of them cash-strapped and eager to make new hires—hope the situation is temporary.
Sixty percent of respondents to the Harvard Business Review poll expected to resume in-person operations by the end of 2020—which didn’t happen.
And although it’s likely many of the technologies adopted during the pandemic will be retained by businesses once the crisis is over, Accenture’s 2020 Technology Vision Report refers to Covid as an “innovation stress test” for companies and their systems and services. But our sources uniformly hoped to get back to their old ways of doing business sooner than later.
“Over the last six months, we fully embraced this new way of doing business,” says Rachel Leach, category manager for Bancroft, WI-based RPE, Inc. BB #:105471.
Although the company will review next steps this month or next, she points out, “Our productivity has increased significantly.”
Of course, Leach admits, everyone misses “the day-to-day interaction with our peers—we have a great group—and a computer cannot replace the personal connection when you work with people 40-plus hours a week.”
This is a feature from the Applied Technology department of the January/February 2021 issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine. Click here to read the full article.
