“So that became our number one priority." “If our current team could not earn a living, then we would be adding to the crisis rather than contributing to stability,” Alcazar said in an interview at the company's plant in El Socorro. It wanted to ensure the protection of each of their workers' health, safety and job security. Vemco’s first priority was its 700 staff members. We were already physically distancing, reducing numbers in the office doing health checks and finding ways for people to work from home.” “Terms like physical distancing, we were learning that months before it was being talked about locally. So, when covid19 officially reached TT in March, Vemco was already prepared. While we had a certain focus going into 2020, we shifted a little further and a little deeper.” “We are getting a lot of information that we are compiling here and thinking how we can get ahead of this thing. As fast as they learned new information, they forwarded it to Vemco and their partners. Luckily its plans to drive foreign exchange, engage in job preservation and protect its people and brands were in perfect alignment with what was needed to navigate 2020.Īlcazar said the advantage they had was that they represented several companies worldwide that were monitoring and assessing the impacts of the virus. Vemco was looking out for an economic lull, not a worldwide pandemic.
So, going into 2020 we were already of that mindset,” Alcazar said.īut no one was expecting covid19. “We were battening down the hatches looking at costs to see where we could get better control, where we could cut out and get a little leaner – any wastage of raw material or where we might be spending money that we didn’t need to spend. Alcazar said Vemco’s first priority when covid19 hit was its staff.
Vemco CEO Christopher Alcazar and machine attendants Susan George-Forde, left, and Melissa Charles display some of the Swiss brand products. As part of Caribbean Distribution Partners, which operates across the Caribbean Agostini's group of companies, which has a wide array of companies locally and as partners to international companies like Pepsi and Kerrygold for years, Vemco was able to get an understanding of how the pitch in 2020 might play. The company also has a wide group perspective of how different industries are doing. It is connected to all facets of the economy and in one way or another is affected by any fundamental changes in economic forces. Thanks to first-hand information from a wide range of industries, Vemco was prepared for a difficult innings in 2020.Īs a food and beverage company, Vemco is an all-rounder. Alcazar is the immediate past president of the TT Manufacturers' Association, where during his tenure, the business group launched its Proudly T&T campaign. Vemco CEO Christopher Alcazar told Business Day that through its foresight, planning and dedication to building TT, Vemco was not only able to keep its eye on the ball, but test the boundaries of how business is done. They also contributed to the overall $300 million garnered by Agostini and managed to maintain a supply of food, from basic commodities like pasta, milk and cheese to pet care products, at a time where changes in the demand and supply were volatile. Manufacturing, exporting and distribution company Vemco is among those few.Ĭonnected to the conglomerate Agostini locally and a list of companies worldwide, Vemco was able not only to navigate the uncertainty of 2020 and covid19, they were able to protect all 700 of their employees, both health wise and financially. And not just the run-of-the-mill high bouncing cork ball either 2020 was the kind of bouncer that went one way then bounced another then flew straight at your face.įew businesses were able to pivot away from that bouncer, let alone benefit and thrive.
If you want to define it in cricket terms, you could say 2020 was a bouncer. Thursday 21 January 2021 CEO of VEMCO Christopher Alcazar smiles with a pack of Super Cow milk.
Business How Vemco kept its eye on the ball in a pandemic
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