Managing the Coronavirus Outbreak

These are truly unprecedented times. While we are all affected in some form or fashion, our deepest sympathies go out to anyone uniquely and acutely impacted by COVID-19. At Mondelēz International, we have been working hard to protect our colleagues and communities while providing business continuity for our consumers and customers since the outbreak began in China in January.   

As the virus has spread around the world, we have been taking actions to help contain it and its potential impact on our employees and operations. Measures have varied by market and need but include instituting additional safety and hygiene measures, adopting health screenings, banning or restricting travel, enabling employees to work remotely, and beyond. 

We’ve been supporting many of our colleagues in and around China who have been managing this difficult situation for the last few months. In Europe, it has been an intense few weeks across several of our markets. Here in Chicago, employees at headquarters are now working fully remotely.

In locations such as manufacturing facilities or markets where some employees are needed on-site, we’ve done detailed local risk assessments and adopted a number of heightened protocols including social distancing and enhanced personal hygiene and workplace sanitation. Importantly, organizations such as the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control have said that they do not see any food safety risk relating to food transmission of the virus. Our products are safe to enjoy. And while many people tend to stock up on food in these situations, know that the food industry has a very resilient global supply chain and we will not run out.

Our response has been coordinated globally and executed locally and I am proud of the leadership I have seen in our business units around the world. I want to thank each one of our 80,000 colleagues for their past, present and future efforts, particularly those working in our plants, distribution and sales operations to keep food on shelves Whether you are directly involved in managing our preparedness and response, or are adapting your work routine in a facility or remotely, please know how much I appreciate your commitment to this collective cause.

I firmly believe that challenging times like these can bring out the best in the human spirit – unity, empathy, selflessness and perseverance. I’ve already seen this in our organization and plan to lead by example. 

We are supporting global relief efforts through our global and local philanthropic community partnerships like Save The Children, CARE and the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent. Our contributions to the Red Cross go to their Annual Disaster Giving Program and Disaster Relief Emergency Fund but we also know there is more we can and will do in the private sector to aid this response.

If you are interested in more details on our actions as a company, please visit our website for more information.