Planet Organic reopens all stores after securing Covid-19 secure status

Planet Organic has announced it has achieved Covid-19 safe status to allow it to reopen all of its 15 locations.

The retail chain has revealed that in light of restructuring its offer overnight to meet an increase in demand for its organic food, supplements and vitamins both in-store and online, Planet Organic called on the support of Food Alert to provide food hygiene and health and safety advice.

Following a rigorous site-by-site virtual auditing process by Food Alert, Planet Organic and its recently acquired As Nature Intended sites are now COVID-19 Standard Certified.

Planet Organic’s Food Services Director, Caroline Ottoy, commented: “Like everyone else in retail, our business was turned upside down overnight. Demand for our healthy products rocketed and we had to make sure that we were well positioned to cope and look after the health and safety of our teams and customers.

“The certification scheme has been well received, not only by our 450 employees who know we have done everything we can to make their workplace as safe as possible, but also by our customers who are confident that we are delivering the highest standards possible.”

To gain Food Alert’s COVID-19 safe standard, Planet Organic undertook a detailed risk assessment that covered all the touchpoints that need to be cleaned to the type of sanitiser to use, managing deliveries of stock safely and a staff sign-in questionnaire.

Ottoy continued: “What I found surprising was that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was not the most important control, but all the steps that we should take in terms of deep cleaning, physical distancing and task checklists to keep people safe, with PPE being the final link in the chain. We have invested heavily in inserting bespoke till screens and floor vinyls with face masks worn where physical distancing isn’t possible.”