COVID-19 Response Plan

To protect the safety of our staff, clients, and stakeholders, we at Tempea have implemented changes to how we do things in our kitchen and how we interact with you. We are doing our best to cope and minimize the risk of spread of the virus by following the guidelines and recommendations from WorkSafe BC and Public Health authorities. 

We want to inform all our clients that, according to the US FDA, "Currently there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19." 

 

Our Interactions with the Public

Deliveries

We have transitioned to a paperless receipt system to minimize contact and paper consumption. We highly encourage our clients to pay by cash-less methods as much as possible. Our delivery team is also trained to do contactless drop-offs for home deliveries and minimize contact with our food service and retail clients. We provide our drivers with sanitizing wipes, masks, and gloves to ensure their safety. We make sure to avoid touching door handles, buttons, pens, and screens unless they are disinfected with our wipes or we have immediate means to clean our hands afterwards. Our delivery vehicle and any storage equipment such as coolers are cleaned and sanitized regularly. To minimize our trips outside, we also consolidate our orders by delivery area. 

Farmer’s Markets & Events

As required by Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and Vancouver Farmers Markets (VFM), we are no longer giving out food samples. We have put up signage at our booths to remind shoppers to maintain 2m distance at all times and to make their interactions brief. We do not accept cash at the moment and have contactless payment terminals. Until further notice, other public events for 2020 (such as VegExpo and Vegan Market at Ft. Langley) have been rescheduled to 2021. Our event schedule will be subject to change. Please refer to our VFM market schedule here.

Receiving

We receive all of our ingredients / supplies in large quantities to ensure we have enough inventory for several months. Given the our order volumes, everything is palletized and securely wrapped, and our contact with any delivery personnel is also very minimal. 

Other Suppliers / Clients

We limit our contact to other suppliers and clients through e-mail or phone and avoid in-person meetings and gatherings as much as possible.

 

Our Production Facility

Our facility in North Vancouver is closed to public. Our staff are all informed to stay at home if they feel ill or experience any flu-like symptoms, and to self-quarantine if needed. We have also made changes to our work flow to limit 6 people at a time in order to meet distancing requirements throughout the shift. Our break times are staggered to provide our staff a safe environment and to also eliminate any high-traffic areas in our space. Commonly touched surfaces such as door handles, light switches, and bathroom fixtures are regularly cleaned and monitored by our staff and landlord.

Our team is fully equipped with PPEs (ie., single-use aprons, hairnets, gloves, masks) and have been trained on its proper use. We all frequently wash our hands throughout production and change our gloves regularly. We also use approved virucidal disinfectant to make sure our work surfaces, equipment, and small wares are safe before and after use. We have implemented these changes on top of the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) that we’ve always had in place.

We pride ourselves in being part of the handful of fresh, unpasteurized tempeh-makers in North America. Cleanliness and hygiene is a top priority in the production process of making a fermented product, and it always has been for us since day one. It is mandatory in the process of propagating live cultures. Without it, we wouldn't be able to provide you with the quality of tempeh we always have.

 

Policy and Monitoring

We have a strict “sick” policy that is observed by all Tempea members:

  • All workers showing symptoms of COVID-19 are prohibited from the workplace.

  • Any employee who is starting to feel ill at work is required to inform management. They will be sent home and instructed to call 811 for further guidance or use the COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool.

  • If the worker experiences any severe symptoms such as chest pain or difficulty breathing, we will call 911.

  • We will perform a deep clean and disinfect any surfaces that the ill worker may have had contact with.

 

We are keeping ourselves updated with any changes or new guidelines that are given out by Public Health and government agencies to effectively respond in a timely manner. Until deemed safe, we will have these changes and policies in place. We greatly appreciate your patience and support during this time.

Sincerely,

Team Tempea