ABA and AIBI Talk Safety Practices, Industry Supply in the U.S. and Europe

American Bakers Association (ABA) and the International Association of Plant Bakers – AIBI aisbl shared guidelines, measures and support resources available in light of changes triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two leading industry associations shared in interviews with World Bakers updates regarding current challenges and preparations to ensure that the supply continues without interruption and is quickly adapting to new logistics and consumption changes.

ABA saw almost overnight a huge surge in demand for bakery products, particularly bread and rolls. Robb MacKie, ABA president and CEO, detailed: “We’ve had individual members who have suggested their business went up two or three-fold from what it was pre-COVID-19.” This was doubled by a similar increase in demand for all the related ingredients – yeast flour, water, salt and some sweeteners. “Throughout it all, our workforce has been tremendously strong and dedicated to feeding the country and it’s important to keep these employees safe, motivated, and inspired to do the critical work they do today and always,” he stresses.

Surge in Output

Some ABA members, primarily those whose focus is retail, have been running at 3-5 times their normal volumes, 24/7, for more than a month, while others have seen hindrances in their work, especially association members whose main clients include foodservice, which, in some cases, have had to shut their lines down entirely for weeks. “Some of those members are now starting to get back online as foodservice is starting to pick back up; meanwhile, we are finding ways to assist these members in finding relief,” MacKie tells us. Early on in the crisis, the ABA worked closely with their partners in the food retail space to quickly alter how deliveries to retail are handled to help mitigate person-to-person contact, he explained. This includes changes in delivery hours so as to minimize contact.

The demand for finished baked goods skyrocketed in the U.S. “We’ve seen some IRI data that showed a 62% increase that first week [of the outbreak crisis – eds.]. However, I think it’s safe to say that recently, we’ve seen that demand slowing a little bit – in part, because I think there was some initial concern about supply at the grocery store. Consumers knew they were going to be home for a while and they went out and stocked up. By and large, that seems to have subsided although volumes are still up,” adds ABA’s president.

Guidance Resources

The ABA has worked closely in partnership with nearly 60 food associations, with the FDA and the CDC and, where appropriate, USDA, on a series of protocols for the food and beverage industry. “This guidance is being used across the entire food and beverage industry to ensure the safety of our workers on the front line,” MacKie explains, and it includes:

• Food Industry Recommended Protocols When Employee/Customer Tests Positive for COVID-19 
• Proper Usage of Face Masks 
• Emergency Prevention Measures to Achieve Physical (Social) Distancing in Food Manufacturing Facilities as Related to COVID-19 
• Screening Food Industry Employees for COVID-19 Symptoms or Exposure 

Source: ABA

Large bakeries have policies for extreme precautions regarding the protection of their people and ensuring continuity in operations. “In Covid-19 times, further necessary actions were taken up to protect offices and bakeries with social distancing. An important measure is to create workspace distance between workers of at least 1,5 meters. Shifts and groups were separated to not come into contact with each other,” AIBI also highlights.

Challenges

There has been no shortage or delays for ingredients and delivery, minus a few minor, isolated incidents early on, the ABA reports. “The big drive now is to ensure our industry continues to have a steady supply of PPE for their employees. We are actively taking steps with the government to ensure priority access to these critical items, behind healthcare workers and first responders,” says MacKie.

In Brussels, AIBI reports that the main challenge for the weeks to come, as confinement continues, may arise from having enough healthy people to ensure the daily production to meet demands. “It is primordial to protect our people and working staff. This is the first priority,” AIBI’s representatives underline. Companies are in close dialogue with their customers to meet the increasing demand, which will mean focusing on fewer products to increase the volume output. “There are limited problems with supply, but they are gradually growing and this may be the next challenge,” AIBI anticipates.

AIBI sees a significant increase in packed bread sales and important drops in fine bakery wares and more sophisticated bakery products, due to drastic changes in consumer behavior. Furthermore, families are now baking bread and cakes at home, which caused flour and yeast to sell out. Snacking and food-to-go has dropped by 90%, AIBI notes. “Since demands are changing rapidly throughout our entire business, we continuously adapt our operations to the situation,” it says.

Retail is becoming the main and almost single channel where bakery products are sold. Overall, consumption of the retail consumer packed categories has increased, observes the plant bakers’ association. Europe experiences no shortages, AIBI highlights, being in close contact with suppliers. “The impact on the transportation sector (queues at national borders in Europe) should be solved through the EU recommendation of ‘green lanes’,” the organization explains.

Stronger Together

The American organization has shared the #BakingStrong tag to honor bakery industry workers, as communication is massively done online, and are sharing related resources on the website. We’ve asked the ABA to share its members’ thoughts with European industry peers across the processing chain.
“Our industry’s employees are at the heart of our operations – anywhere in the world. It’s critically important that we come together as an industry more than we have ever done before. We invite our global partners in baking to work together to help elevate our workers, to help them understand and appreciate they’re a part of something larger than themselves: feeding the world,” was MacKie’s message.

The sentiment is shared with AIBI, who says that “In this exceptional crisis, it is primordial to work together and to collaborate to maintain the production continuity. The whole food supply chain (from suppliers, producers, logistics and customers) must cooperate closely to address as best as we can this exceptional crisis. We are those who care for your daily bread.”

Hashtags bringing the industry together and its resources include #foodheroes #wirbackendas #strongtogether, with more likely to come.