Working during a pandemic....

The lockdown announcement in March was a massive shock to everyone, and it was devasting to see so many local businesses we know and love shut their doors (but fortunately some are still selling produce here thanks to Bristol Food Union). In many ways we were incredibly lucky though, as food businesses were considered essential and encouraged to stay open (admittedly our product might be at the furthest reaches of the 'essential' food scale but still...), and of course we sell our products online rather than face to face with the public.

As we were staying open, we needed to work out what we needed to change to make sure everyone here stayed safe and we'd still be able to pack and send your orders.

We were already rated 5 stars by the local Environmental health officer and had SALSA certification, so we'd always had plenty of hand sanitisers around the building, hand washing facitilities, hair/beard/hand coverings, daily/weekly cleaning procedures etc etc....but as it turned out there needed to be a few more updates before we felt we'd really got on top of the new hygiene and working practices:

Warehouse shop closed (and no visitors allowed!): our warehouse shop is closed for the foreseeable future and no Curry Legend workshops or other events for a long time I'm sorry to say

Daily Self Certification: everyone needs to certify every morning they're symptom-free (including anyone they live with or have been in contact with during the previous 24 hours) before entering the building

Sanitise, sanitise, sanitise: Everyone now needs to sanitise hands before entering the building and touching ANYTHING (previously this was just at the entrances to the packing/open food areas)

Distancing: We've got over 11,000 sq ft here, so spacing while working hasn't been too much of a problem, and the daily mass scrum for fresh morning coffee or the first onion bhaji at lunchtime is definitely over for now

More surface cleaning and handwashing: all the door handles, light switches, bannisters etc are sterilised twice daily after everyone is in the building, and after breaks

Face masks: We're loving our cool new branded face masks made in South India by our friends at Supreme Creations (they even come with a little drawstring bag to store the spare one between washes!)

Who knows what else might be on the way in the months ahead, but right now it feels like we've done as much as we can to keep everyone safe and keep the business running. To be totally honest, everyone here's a little bit dazed and exhausted at the moment after being so busy during the lockdown, but hopefully you've all received your orders in something close to normal time! Fingers crossed everything keeps running smoothly from now on as the restrictions on what was previously normal life gradually start to ease....

take a tour round Spicery HQ while you're here (videos made pre-coronavirus!!) or read our Annual Report to see the highlights from last year