As for another issue which has been a problem for businesses, please explain if production of hiring workers continue to be an issue or not? Has your company changed rates of pay or benefits to attract workers? As from that, what other ways have you addressed keeping enough workers?
Kristin Bastoni-Frazee: We had to lay off employees during COVID, so trying to hire some back and hire new employees has been tough. It’s hard to find help these days with all the perks that the State has been giving people on unemployment and extra COVID pay.
With that being said, we have a great crew right now. We do hire people based on experience and we try to be as competitive as possible when it comes to our pay scale.
Jill, Lynn and Diana Giacomini: There has been a significant decrease in the number of candidates applying for open positions. As a company, we’ve always believed that our best employees are our existing employees.
Along with what we consider the basics (great health benefits, 401(K), two weeks starting vacation, eight paid holidays, free lunches and lots of cheese), we maintain a focus on both personal and professional growth, encouraging our employees to utilize our educational subsidy program.
Throughout the Pandemic and into 2022, we added to our benefit programs with monthly mental health days, additional floating holidays and for non-production staff, flexibility with working from home. We also continually look at compensation in our market to ensure we’re always competitive with wages at every level.
Sarita Lopez: I'm my only employee so this is not an issue for me.
Carol Pool: We have a wonderful team of employees and have not experienced any issues. We have been very fortunate. Retaining our employees and providing them with a sense of purpose and a pleasant work environment is extremely important. We are fair with our wages and benefits. As a matter of fact, job applicants continue to inquire about Barista positions in our Coffee Bar daily. Many are fans of our coffee.
Supply chain issues proved to be vexing in the last two quarters of 2021. If that was true for your company, how specifically were you impacted and how did you resolve the problem, or at least mitigate it?
Kristin Bastoni-Frazee: Yes, we were impacted by supply chain issues. We had a hard time getting parts for our machines. We have been getting loaner equipment, and if none are available, we have been continuing production without that piece of equipment and have been improvising.
Jill, Lynn and Diana Giacomini: We have experienced a significant delay in the delivery of production equipment and supplies from overseas. What once took four to six months now takes an average of eight to ten months.
To mitigate extended lead time, we’ve committed to ordering larger volumes and planning much further into the future, which then becomes challenging for storage and inventory management. Additionally, from a financial perspective, ROI associated with capital expenditures is taking longer to materialize.
Sarita Lopez: Aluminum was incredibly hard to find! That and my co-packer had many issues trying to find enough employees to keep production runs on schedule. All I could do was wait until both were handled internally.
Carol Pool: Availability and cost of products definitely have impacted our business not only in the last several quarters of 2021, but have continued in 2022. The pandemic affected the global supply chain, causing severe shortages of both goods and labor. Thus, driving up costs. We had an open mindset, learned to react faster, and make necessary changes to meet the needs of our employees and customers.
And as a follow up, are those supply chain issues still a problem in production today, or have they lessened?
Kristin Bastoni-Frazee: Yes, it is still an issue. We were supposed to have received a new machine by now and we were notified it will be another 4-6 weeks out. It’s really all a waiting game. No one really knows when they will arrive.
Jill, Lynn and Diana Giacomini: Yes, we continue to experience shipment delays as well as storage issues.
Sarita Lopez: They are no longer an issue, thank gosh!
Carol Pool: Yes, this continues to be a problem in many aspects of our business. Nothing has lessened. As a matter of fact, costs have soared across the board. We are paying more for products that we utilize. The price fluctuations of the “coffee market” have definitely had an impact on our profit margins. We don’t see anything changing in the near future. Inflation is here to stay long term
Lastly, what consumer trends are your seeing in your area of the food business coming over the next two years? Are they going to have a positive or challenging impact on your company?
Kristin Bastoni-Frazee: With all the price increases and supply chain issues we are facing, I think it will be challenging for a lot of the smaller businesses we serve to remain open. Rising costs can quickly outweigh revenue coming in but should many of those businesses close it will have a huge impact on my businesses.
"company" - Google News
April 20, 2022 at 03:23AM
https://ift.tt/tTVECva
What's it take to run a food company during economic upheaval? - North Bay Business Journal
"company" - Google News
https://ift.tt/gz7jWuv
https://ift.tt/dRYHbNm
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "What's it take to run a food company during economic upheaval? - North Bay Business Journal"
Post a Comment