Here at the GoodMills Group we are responsible for the operation of twenty-five mills across Europe, processing 2.9 million tons of grain annually, and supplying high quality flour to the food industry and bakeries, as well as directly to consumers. Day by day, week by week, and for many, many years, people all over Europe have been relying on the diligence and professionalism of our millers for their daily bread. We supply the flour that feeds millions of people, and we would like to share how we are responding to the coronavirus crisis.
Firstly, we have always maintained the very highest safety and hygiene standards in every one of our mills, and for years we have been implementing the rigid ISF standards on food safety and security in every country in which we operate.
Because of our adherence to these standards – and the fact we have planned for an array of foreseeable eventualities – the GoodMills Group, together with our national subsidiaries in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania, is well positioned to cope with the challenges that this crisis has imposed on all of us.
Secondly, we have voluntarily implemented 100 % of all additional safe-guards our own experts suggested to us in all our mills across Europe. Just as always, we are fully committed to maintaining the highest standards in production and safety. That translates into:
- ensuring continuous production and a steady, reliable supply to all our markets
- whilst maintaining the highest standards in food safety and security
Given our long-established strategy of regional procurement and loyal business relationships with our suppliers, we can assure everyone that we are delivering a stable and sufficient supply of grain to our mills, and on average, each of our mills is retaining several weeks to several months of grain stocks. We have already increased our grain stock levels to near maximum at every mill during the last weeks.
Protecting operations:
Because we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees, and to ensure continual production, we have – among other measures – cordoned off our mills and sent non-operational staff to work from home. Furthermore, we have segmented all operations and shifts and created separate teams to minimize personal interaction between our staff members, thereby respecting the social distancing norms we follow today and ensuring that production is not disrupted.
All of us at the GoodMills Group — from our administrators to our scientists, from our millers to our laboratory technicians – are confident that we are fully able to respond to any further challenges presented to us, so that we can continue to supply millions of Europeans with what we all depend on: our daily bread.