Post Register highlights Melaleuca’s early COVID preparation and response

With the passing of the one-year anniversary since COVID-19’s first appearance in the United States, east Idaho’s largest newspaper highlighted Melaleuca’s preparedness and leadership when the pandemic manifested in 2019.

Read the full article at the Post Register.

In the article, Post Register reporter Sally Krutzig pointed to Melaleuca’s preparation “before anyone else in Idaho Falls” and detailed some of the planning and mitigation efforts to keep its workforce safe.

She wrote, “ten days before the Post Register had even mentioned the virus, Melaleuca created a ‘global crisis group’ made up of company leaders from both Asia and Idaho Falls who had ‘conference calls every evening to discuss how to deal with the coronavirus.’”

As a result, Melaleuca customers had access to critical wellness supplies like hand sanitizer and disinfectants while the company’s global supply chains properly flowed. The company also stocked up on safety equipment for employees.

A Taskforce is Formed

Because of Melaleuca’s extensive international presence, The Wellness Company was an early observer to the devastating effects of the pandemic and quickly organized its personnel to prepare for the virus’s eventual global spread.

With a goal of safely navigating a worldwide pandemic, Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot formed this task force comprised of some of the best and brightest minds in supply chain operations, international business, and workplace safety.

“We were fortunate enough to have a little glimpse into this. . .” said Melaleuca’s President of International Jerry Felton. “We felt like things were coming [and Frank VanderSloot] felt like things were going to get out of control. We were able to secure some very important raw materials that go into our products that then became unavailable. And we were able to secure masks early.”

A Model of Responsible Operations

Through the coronavirus task force’s leadership, Melaleuca remained open for business, providing millions of customers with life-enhancing wellness products.

Moreover, it set itself as a model of a company operating responsibly in a COVID-environment. Months later, when some community members stopped wearing face masks, VanderSloot advocated for face coverings to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Several business, community and health leaders backed his remarks and praised his response.

In addition to securing a safe work environment for its own employees, Melaleuca’s processes provided ideas for other organizations to follow as they, too, searched for ways to keep employees safe and operations running during the worst pandemic in a century.