FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, my priorities were protecting our 400 employees as well as securing the supply chain. I started devising a strategy during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when I was on Rosemary Beach in Florida with my wife and two daughters. At that time, I never thought the pandemic would escalate so much, especially in the United States. I put together a team of three people to assess our imports from Asia. Our coconut water and rice come from Thailand. We buy products from five vendors in China, but only one is a major item for us — garlic. We evaluated those shipping channels because when you order goods from overseas, two months can pass before you receive them. I knew if I could get the products out of the manufacturing plants to the docks and onto a ship, I’d be safe. In January, for example, we ordered six months’ worth of garlic. By mid-February, vessels were unable to dock in China, causing garlic prices to skyrocket.
