Press Release from Our Partner Primex 18th March 2020

Our Partner Primex in the Philippines has issued a Press Release regarding the current situation in the Philippines.

The main points are as follows:

Current Situation in the Philippines.

An “Enhanced Community Quarantine” has been put in place for the entire Island of Luxon to contain the spread of COVID-19.  This affects one of our factories in the North.

And the entire Philippines have been put under a “State of Calamity” to allow the government to tap into more emergency funds.

In the Davao region the governors and mayors have announced a lockdown for 14 days starting on March 19th, 2020 covering major cities and towns in the region (these include Davao city, Davao De Oro, Davao Del Norte, Davao Del Sur & Davao Oriental.

In addition to this, the city mayors of Davao Sura Duterte & Sta Cruz & announced a “Community Quarantine” for the entire city of Davao and Sta Cruz.

What is Primex doing?

Primex has a crisis management plan in place to ensure that staff are kept as safe as possible and that the plants are also at the very highest level of hygiene as usual,

Primex follow and enforce our Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) which includes good hygiene practices (including handwashing).

Primex’s cleaning and sanitizing procedures are reviewed regularly, as usual.

And Primex is certified by a 3rd party advertising body under GFSI recognised food safety scheme. And our hazard analysis and HACCP plans are reviewed during these audits.

Primex has also taken additional measures including thermal scanning of staff to ensure their temperatures are normal, they are also having disinfectant sprayed on their hands and footbaths to sanitise footwear. All employees are being closely monitored for any health issues and are being sent home immediately.

What Does This Mean for Primex?

At this point, Primex does not expect any disruption in operations.

Primex has sufficient inventories of ingredients to manage through any delays in local shipments should they arise.

If an enhanced quarantine is declared in Davao, Primex is considering updated shift patterns and social distancing, plus a specialised shuttle service for staff, to ensure continuity of service.

Logistics Update

Shipping and freight forwarders are currently operating normally in the Philippines, there is limited availability of food-grade containers in Davao, (the knock-on from the lockdowns in China).

The Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Plant Industry (Phyto Certification) are running on reduced working days and limited staff.

TM Duché & Sons 

TM Duché & Sons are continuing to operate as normal, while we have staff working from home, we have full access to phones and emails as usual. With accounts teams, logistics and quality assurance working as usual.

Deliveries are not affected, and we are taking orders for the next 3-6 months as usual.

Coconut prices are stable at the moment.