Vitev on COVID-19

A quick update with how COVID-19 is effecting things at Vitev as well as some answers to the common questions. Bottom line all systems are go with very little change to our daily routines. The company is healthy, and inventory is well stocked with no issues for the foreseeable future.

Sanitation and worker health: We already function in a somewhat socially distant manner. We began as a couple of guys in geographically separated locations. That has maintained the last 10 years even as we’ve grown. Technology has allowed us to maintain different offices performing different functions even as we’ve grown. We don’t all work at the same location and we have redundancies built into many of our functions and tasks. Video conferencing, shared content platforms, instant messaging, etc are all normal for us. The only thing we’ve had to change is increased sanitary processes at our warehouse in Lawrence Kansas with increased daily cleanings and wipe downs of workspaces and packing tables while also wearing nitrite gloves to pack and ship.

We’ve also recently added some air purification systems to the warehouse that are effective at killing surface contaminants. Look up photocatalytic oxidation if you are interested. A company in Tennessee (Greentech Environmental) is one of the leading producers. Great products that should be in A LOT of places.

UPS drivers are routinely sanitizing their trucks and the ones picking up from us daily are also wearing gloves.

Inventory and Suppliers: We are very well stocked (and are seeing very strong sales right now…people need to stay hydrated to be healthy!) We’re in routine contact with our suppliers and they are all functioning as normal as well. Several of them are in the food prep industry and already have high sanitary processes in place. Some are even bringing lunch in everyday for their company to keep everyone in the building after arrival and limit contact after sanitizing. Our only Chinese supplier (pitchers) only saw minor impacts to workers returning and is 100% normal now. They’ve actually reached out to us to offer any assistance with masks or other needed suppliers they have access to. They are good people. We resupplied from them at the end of 2019, before everything went crazy, so there is no issue with any contaminated products. Those products also take about 6-8 weeks to arrive, well beyond virus survivability on surfaces.

Financials: All is good here as well. We aren’t in debt, we aren’t in need of gap loans and everyone is receiving paychecks as normal. We’ve prioritized health in all areas of the company.

We know this is an uncertain and scary time for a lot of people. We’re doing as well as can be expected and for that we are very thankful. We hope you all stay safe and healthy with an eye to the positives that will come out of this very unusual situation.