VegTrug have reported a massive increase in demand for their iconic product range during the Covid 19 crisis with the company taking very early decisions and employing a smart strategy to see them through.
Very early in the crisis (and several weeks before lockdown) they declared their Colchester premises an ‘isolation’ area with no visitors allowed and staff practising self distancing and increased hygiene throughout the premises. Several staff changed to working from home immediately and with systems the company had already invested in, they were able to trade throughout the period working remotely where necessary.
No staff were furloughed and customer demands were met with a few fundamental changes. The lead time was extended early on and trade stock availability was also limited so that they could ensure nobody was let down.
Joe Denham (CEO VegTrug) commented: “We have supported trade customers in the UK who stayed open during the crisis as far as we possibly could. Those online customers and garden centres who reacted early and worked with us to come up with creative solutions, quickly implementing safe ‘click and collect systems’ appreciated our support throughout the crisis. We had to think creatively in all areas of our business and trading relationships.
Demand from consumers has been overwhelming but our staff have managed to step up to the task and meet it head on. Our support staff have been working evenings and weekends and I could not be more proud of them.
What has been most interesting is that we have seen the business operating at maximum capacity. This has shown us where our shortcomings are and as a result we have made several staff responsibility changes and will be implementing an automated trade portal for our UK customers which will be launched within the next 10 days.
With trade exhibitions looking doubtful for 2020 we are currently in production with a number of video presentations which buyers should expect to receive over the coming weeks. Our new product line up for 2021 has never looked more exciting. Trading with VegTrug will be easier, smarter and more profitable than ever before.
Our most difficult problem was the closure of the business in America. Our warehouse and offices in Pennsylvania are still closed but we have managed to achieve our budgets with Amazon and QVC sales better than ever and shipments from stock we were holding in 3rd party out-of-State warehousing. It was imperative for us to keep our staff supported in America and we have managed to achieve that and continue to pay our bills over there!
We feel very lucky to have come through this crisis relatively unscathed when many businesses within the industry have struggled and may not survive. I believe it is a testament to the quality of our products and the service we give that has seen us through”.
Any customer wanting details of the VegTrug range for in store sales should contact Mark Crowley by email mark@vegtrug.com. Online customers should contact James Allan by email james@vegtrug.com