COVID-19: A glance at the stern

How we dealt with the emergency, what we learned and how much has changed

The picture above shows the Amerigo Vespucci, one of the last sailing ships still active in the world today. It is a true masterpiece, a symbol of Italian tenacity. What very few people know is that the motto of this beautiful boat, engraved in bronze on a wooden plaque is:

Not who begins, but he who perseveres

Amerigo Vespucci,  Motto - 1925

Facing an emergency of this entity puts a huge strain on both people and organizations. The food industry has the added responsibility of providing nutrition on a global level, having to make rapid interventions necessary to reorganize company operations in a very short period of time. You need to be cold blooded, a quick decision-maker and be armed with optimism, strength of mind and tenacity. However, each challenge can be turned into an opportunity. The opportunity is to understand that we can do more and frankly speaking, much more than what we had thought possible just yesterday.

First of all, this is a thank you. We thank our collaborators, who gave their all by adapting to the new working conditions and accepted the risks, even if reduced because of the fully implemented safety precautions, of continuing to work to guarantee production continuity for our customers who were and are the focal points on which the emergency concentrated with particular intensity.

We thank our customers who, despite the difficulties, helped us support them and they did everything possible to guarantee, despite the difficult conditions in which they were forced to work, the production of basic necessities for their people and country.

Finally, we thank the authorities who allowed us to work to keep this very delicate supply chain running, with the implementation of protocols, rules and regulations aimed at ensuring maximum safety standards. We are highly aware of the difficulties of such a thankless task.

During a storm, it is important that the ship is solid, but the skill and cohesion of the crew and officers are equally as important - to put it in nautical language: they know the maneuvers. 

In a very short time, we reorganized almost all our staff to work in remote. We have adapted our technical assistance approach, contact frequency and internal department interactivity. We put ourselves at our customers’ service to ensure production continuity, solve problems through technological devices that were used in completely different areas.

We learned a lot. We are faster, more proactive, easier to contact, no matter the distance. The letters of thanks we received from our customers are proof of this and we are proud of this. We did our best and it didn't go unnoticed. Thank you.

Things will not change; they have already changed. The crisis is not totally behind us, it is still not "over". However we feel we have some things in common with this ancient sailing ship: resilient and industrious, while it arises at dawn from a fog bank, with the storm behind it, when you begin to see the silhouette of the sun, happy and confident of our ability to sail towards the horizon.

So let’s sail. Let’s sail together.

 

Thanks to everyone.

Fava S.p.A

 

 

Fava S.p.A.
Work with Us curriculum@fava.it

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