LARRY PRAEGER Our manufacturing facility is based out of northern New Jersey, and we were having similar discussions about what we needed to do. A priority was really to make sure that we had a safe working environment for all our factory workers, as well as the people that were in the office. So around March 18, we did take a bit of a drastic step and closed down our factory for four days.

That was to try to do a heavy sanitizing of the building and the manufacturing facility, but also to give us some time to really come up with a plan so that, when we reopened, we could bring back our factory workers and feel safe about doing it. Now we’re taking temperatures when people enter the facility, we’re providing masks and gloves for all the employees, we’ve increased the cleaning in the factory, we have heavy sanitation in high-touch areas, and we’ve added space in the break and lunchroom spaces, and set up some satellite break and lunchroom spaces.

The one thing that we really wanted to instill in the employees was to make sure that they understood that if they weren’t feeling well, they should not come into work, and their job wasn’t in jeopardy. The most important thing, as a first line of defense, was to have them not come to work. If people aren’t coming to work sick, then you have less to worry about in your facility.

GELLES Kara, you have manufacturing lines in the United States as well. What changes did you make, if any?

GOLDIN We have multiple bottling facilities throughout the U.S., and we were actually very well set up. We pasteurize our product because we’re not using preservatives, and the actual location where it’s being filled is a clean room, so there’s no people in there when it’s going through the process of killing any microbes. So there has not been a dramatic change in the way that we’re filling.

GELLES Larry, despite the precautions you took, at least four of your employees have tested positive for the virus, including some who worked inside your factory. What happens when factory workers at a food company test positive for this virus? What steps have you taken to ensure that their illness didn’t become a problem for the business?

PRAEGER We’ve had about four or five cases. Those people are quarantining at home for 14 days. And we’ve actually had one person who’s come back since then. They saw a doctor and have a doctor’s note that confirms that they’re OK.