Litehouse CEO shines light on local food business needs during COVID-19

Litehouse CEO and President Kelly Prior answered questions about the challenges his employees and other local businesses are facing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. How has Litehouse management responded to COVID-19?

[LH]: Our executive team is meeting on a daily basis, seven days a week, to assess the situation. Our message to the team has been to continue making the customers’ needs a priority (right after that of the health and safety of our employee owners). We are also thinking of other opportunities to support our customers during this dynamic time. One example is that we recently worked with Instacart on a free delivery initiative, which not only incentivizes consumers to do their grocery shopping from home, but also helps retailers keep in-store shoppers to a minimum during this time of social distancing.

Since the company’s founding in 1963, stewardship has always been one of Litehouse’s core values. One of the ways we are standing by that commitment during this crisis is working with our local food banks to provide donations to help with their increased demand as many of our neighbors are out of work and not getting the paychecks they depend on. With our company beginnings as a restaurant, we also wanted to help local food service establishments. As such, we are providing a free meal every day (across all shifts) for our manufacturing employees and sourcing these meals from local restaurants, as well as reaching out to foodservice providers and restaurants in Bonner Country to offer free Litehouse product for the next 60 days to help offset some of their operating costs.

2. Please explain in detail how Litehouse employees have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak?

[LH]: With a global pandemic like COVID-19, every department and every role at our company has been impacted – from production, forecasting and supply chain to sales and marketing to human resources, accounting and IT. As an employee-owned company, our employees’ health and safety is our first priority.To help ensure the health and safety of all employees ... we are following CDC guidelines of social distancing and have implemented a mandatory screening protocol, including taking the temperature of each employee before entering the factory floor, to ensure there are no known symptoms of the COVID 19. And just this week we will be deploying cloth face masks to all of our employee owners in the factories as optional additional personal protective equipment. The face masks have been hand made by our Employee Owners and their families. We have also increased paid sick time … and raised wages for our front line workers to show our appreciation for their unwavering commitment during these dynamic times.

3. It is well-known that Litehouse is one of Bonner County’s biggest employers – how many employees do you have?

[LH]: Currently we have 429 Litehouse employees who work in our Sandpoint manufacturing facility, our Kootenai dairy operation or at our Corporate Office in Kootenai. This represents a little over 2% of the total civilian labor force in Bonner County.

4. What has been the response from Litehouse employees during this pandemic?

[LH]: Our Employee response has been nothing short of amazing. We have seen everyone step-up and raise their hand asking for additional ways they can contribute during this dynamic time.

Our employees are the lifeblood of our organization and I want to personally thank each and every one of them for the hard work they continue to put in every day.

5. How has COVID-19 impacted the business side of Litehouse?

[LH]:Overall, we are seeing strong sales, though the sales mix has shifted, with a larger focus on our Retail and Value Added business as consumers are eating at home more. However our Foodservice business is down by 50% due to school closures and restaurants moving to a take-out and/or delivery model.

6. How does the fact that the company is 100 percent employee-owned change the effects of COVID-19 on Litehouse as opposed to other businesses?

[LH]: I think the fact that we are employee-owned is a huge asset to us during these times. Employee owners have skin in the game—what we call “ownership mentality”— so they will go the extra-mile to ensure our business continues to remain strong during these difficult times. According to Certified EO, an employee-owned certification program, employee-owned companies have historically shown to have fewer layoffs during difficult times than other companies in the private sector. Employee-owned companies are relatively rare, as there are between 4,000 and 5,000 employee-owned companies in the U.S. This represents less than 0.2% of U.S. businesses with at least five employees.

7. Have there been policy changes with handling food? If so, how?

[LH]: As a food manufacturer, Litehouse already had strong operating procedures for hygiene and good manufacturing processes. While we have increased our sanitation practices during this time, from a product safety standpoint, most viruses do not survive outside of a host for a long period of time, and, although research is still ongoing regarding transmission, there is no evidence to support the spread of the virus through shipped goods. At this time, we do not see any safety concerns associated with the coronavirus and Litehouse products

8. With the Hawkins family food business legacy dating back to 1882, the founder of Litehouse has surely navigated national debt and turmoil during the Great Depression and WWI and WWII, etc. What is it about Litehouse that has allowed the company to survive for decades?

[LH]: If I had to choose a single reason as to why the Hawkins family food business was able to survive through so many turbulent times it would be Faith. Their faith gave them the strength to persevere, the knowledge to lead and the humility to serve. Along with the founding principal of Faith, the Hawkins family also provided Litehouse with our core values of Stewardship, integrity, Commitment to Excellence and Accountability which help to guide us during difficult times such as these.

9. What suggestions would you make to other businesses struggling with the recent coronavirus outbreak?

[CB]: The number one thing I would encourage is open and honest communication with your employees, customers and business partners. No one has all of the answers but it’s important to proactively communicate the decisions you are making with the best information you have available. The second piece of advice I would offer is to get creative with your offerings and services. Look for ways you can adjust your current way of doing business to add value to the customer during these turbulent times.

10. How do you think Sandpoint businesses will respond to this outbreak as a long-term result? What can concerned citizens do to help?

[LH]: If Sandpoint has proved anything over the years it is the resilience and ingenuity of its citizens and businesses. While this is no doubt a difficult time for many, I have confidence we will see our business bounce back in the aftermath. My call-to-order for all residents of Bonner County is to continue supporting our small businesses during this dynamic time. Remember that these small businesses are the ones year after year sponsoring children’s athletics, donating to fundraisers and providing a setting for our families to gather for special occasions. As citizens we need to do our part to ensure we come out of this pandemic with a healthy and thriving community.