Sunset's COVID-19 Response

Covid-19: A Message from Paul Mastronardi, President and CEO of Mastronardi Produce

We recognize that these are uncertain times. We want you to know that as an essential service, we take our responsibility to continue to provide a steady supply of fresh, nutritious food to our many communities very seriously. We are fully committed to keeping our business operating in order to continue to provide quality fresh produce during these challenging times.

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FAQ’s

How does this affect your supply?

Currently our supply chain is not affected and we remain committed to continue to grow and provide fresh produce to our consumers. We are in constant communication with our growers and have been assured that we will continue to have adequate supplies of fresh produce for our customers.

Should I be concerned about the safety of your produce?

No, there is no evidence that fresh produce or food packaging can transmit COVID-19. We encourage consumers to wash their hands, and prepare their produce following FDA recommendations. Please click here for a useful article about the safety of our food supply.

Will your facilities be shutting down?

As an essential service, we take our responsibility to continue to provide a steady supply of fresh, nutritious, and safe food to our many communities very seriously. We are committed to keeping our business operating in order to continue to provide quality fresh produce during these challenging times.

What precautionary measures has your company taken to ensure the food safety of your produce?

There is no evidence that fresh produce or food packaging can transmit COVID-19. Our company operates under the umbrella of continuous SQF certification. We already maintain very high standards of food safety and preventive measures as part of normal practice to achieve this level of food safety. We encourage consumers to wash their hands, and prepare their produce following FDA recommendations.

What precautionary measures has your company taken to ensure the safety of your employees?

We’re incredibly proud of and thankful for our front-line employees who are helping us to maintain a consistent supply of food to our communities. The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority. We have created a companywide COVID-19 Taskforce and are monitoring government websites and key news media daily. We have implemented several best practices to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, including stringent cleaning and sanitizing schedules and processes, an increase in our sanitizing supply management, staggered shift start, finish, and break times, and we have established different work zones to reduce the size of groups that employees are working around. As a food manufacturer, our employees are already required to wear personal protective equipment including gloves, smocks and hairnets, when working in our facilities. We have enforced mandatory wearing of face coverings for all employees at all locations and have provided optional face shields with updated cleaning practices for the cleaning of the shields. We have isolated and dedicated equipment in place wherever possible, and we have dedicated isolation rooms for confirmed response protocol. All employees are screened upon entrance including daily temperature scans.

We have also developed a work-from-home strategy for those who can effectively work away from the office. Not only does this provide a safe environment for them, but it reduces the number of employees entering our distribution facilities and therefore, reducing the potential of the virus being passed along to those still working there. As things develop, we will continue to implement other potential ways to protect our teams and keep everyone safe.

Will your company continue to conduct business/cross borders?

We have prohibited all business travel for our employees. However, we are continuing to conduct business and provide shipments of our fresh produce across borders. We will be monitoring government websites and announcements closely for any updates, and will react accordingly.

Useful Resources

United Fresh Consumer Resource Page

PMA Food Safety FAQ’s

FDA Food Safety and Coronavirus

FDA Supply Chain and Coronavirus