Challenges, Successes and Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic

The impact of Covid-19 was felt by businesses and individuals on a global scale and we at Fen Peas were no different.

While others worked from home or were furloughed, our work in the fields continued unabated, though of course we were committed to the health and safety of everyone involved in the management of the crop. This meant providing more vehicles so that everyone could travel to the field separately, and sanitising the inside of the cab so that germs would not be transferred.

These preventative measures were successful in preventing the spread of the virus, with only one case of Covid-19 reported among our staff. That person self-isolated at home, testing regularly, before returning to work, and there was no further spread of the virus.

Despite the loss of income from the hospitality sector, there was an increase in people cooking from home and, with many celebrity chefs encouraging healthy eating, frozen peas saw a surge in sales with the general public purchasing them from retailers. As a result, we did not see a dip in demand and at times there was even an increase in demand as more people cooked from home.

Another silver lining was the travel restrictions, making it much easier for us to move around Lincolnshire’s roads with little or no holiday traffic. And the sanitisation of cabs was a lesson we took forward, continuing to do so after restrictions had been eased, as the last thing we would want is for all our team to become ill at once.

It was a challenging time but we can be proud of our response, which ensured not just the health of our employees but the continued provision of our product to retailers and consumers.