Status History

Grimmway Farms was founded on the premise of putting people first. With that in mind, we have taken numerous proactive steps — above and beyond the CDC guidelines — to protect the health of our team members, who provide an essential function of providing fresh, healthy produce to consumers worldwide. Providing a workplace that is safe for our employees is critically important to us, and we strive to maintain an environment in which they are confident they will be taken care of and protected.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and California and Kern County modify restrictions on businesses and shelter-in-place guidelines, Grimmway Farms will remain ever vigilant in our efforts to keep our team safe. You can learn more about these efforts below.

Meanwhile, thank you to the entire family of Grimmway employees who are also doing their part to protect themselves and one another. Through their efforts, we are able to continue to provide fresh produce to consumers globally and donated produce to frontline healthcare workers and food banks from coast to coast. We are supporting the establishment of pop-up grocery stores in our local hospitals throughout the duration of the pandemic. These temporary stores will provide healthcare staff with food and household items that they can access quickly and safely onsite, including produce donated by Grimmway Farms.

As we continue to manage through these difficult times, we do so with a profound sense of teamwork, and with an unwavering commitment to keeping our employees, customers, and partners informed and safe.

Thank you,

JEFF HUCKABY
President, Grimmway Farms and Cal-Organic Farms

Grimmway’s current efforts include, but are not limited to:

• Preventative, enhanced sanitation, including the addition of mandated handwashing stations throughout all of our facilities. Employees may not enter facilities without utilizing handwashing stations.
• Mandatory temperature checks at all facilities, prior to entry.
• Voluntary testing for individuals potentially exposed to COVID-19, paid for by Grimmway.
• Making personal protective equipment available, including face coverings, to all employees.
• Enhanced social distancing measures that include staggering shifts, moving and/or the addition of outdoor break areas to maintain distance during mandated break periods, reconfiguring of work spaces and work groups entirely to ensure maximum social distancing.
• Paid leave to anyone who falls ill from COVID-19, initiated prior to the Governor’s Executive Order.
• Precautionary leaves of absence to older employees (over 65) and to anyone who self identifies as having chronic conditions.
• Consistent and ongoing employee communications, in multiple languages, to ensure every employee understands how to keep themselves and their co-workers safe.
• Elimination of all non-essential meetings and placed everyone who can do so on a “work from home” basis.

We value the trust you place in Grimmway Farms and Cal-Organic to grow and deliver fresh produce to you and your family. During this unprecedented global outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we are taking recommended precautions to keep you, our family of employees, and our industry partners safe.

The experts and scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and their colleagues at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) tell us that there currently is no evidence that transmission of COVID-19 is associated with food or food packaging. That news is reassuring, as is their statement that there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging.

Our Grimmway Farms team members across the country follow stringent safety and hygiene standards, and during this time we have increased our ongoing communication so they can protect themselves, their co-workers and communities by adhering to CDC recommended hygiene measures, disinfecting hard services and facilities often, and of course, staying home from work at the first signs of illness. We encourage our customers to follow these same standards, to wash their hands with soap frequently, to be cautious in how they prepare their food, and to work together with us to protect our friends and loved ones from COVID-19.

We are committed to keeping our customers, employees and partners informed and safe, and we will continue to communicate openly and often.