Source:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-autism-solvents-idUKKCN1UB2IH

https://oem.bmj.com/content/76/9/644

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-018-0625-x

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/prevention/Pages/Cleaners-Sanitizers-Disinfectants.aspx

Women’s Voice For Earth – Cleaning with Pesticides? Quit the Quats!

CDC – Knowledge and Practices Regarding Safe Household Cleaning and Disinfection for COVID-19 Prevention — United States, May 2020

With 45 years in safer cleaning formulation and manufacturing, Wexford Labs understands how important education is at all levels of facility management. This Wexford Labs E-Book is an introduction into how a property can go beyond clean, and offer a safer environment for children, seniors, higher-risk patrons, and their general guest population.

Many cleaning products today contain higher toxicity and possibly harmful ingredients, that are not needed to efficiently disinfect surfaces. Stemming from Wexford Labs’ deep history in the Healthcare & Education industry, they are focused on high-power disinfecting products with the lowest levels of toxicity to humans and the environment.

The Path to Smarter, Safer Disinfection is part of a continuous effort in education on not only better cleaning practices, but making more informed decisions on the disinfectants in your environment. The myths that safer cleaning products are more expensive, less powerful, or in some way “come up short” compared to major market presence brands, are just that.

We know there are a lot of pandemic related acronyms, but the EPA’s Designed for Environment (DfE) program is one specifically for those with sustainability on the mind. Although many of the brands may lead the market in alternative cleaning chemicals, few of them lead in advertising spend. Arm & Hammer is one of the few you may actually see sporting the logo on TV Commercials, looking to build rapport with parents.

Despite the lack of awareness the EPA Designed for Environment Certified Product list is a very important tool to a clean AND safe environment in Hospitality, Foodservice, and beyond. Reading labels isn’t exactly the most popular process, but most are usually more than surprised, when someone shines a light on what goes into some of today’s products on our shelves. Cleaning and Disinfecting is no exception but seemingly one of the most overlooked areas. Perhaps because we feel its acceptable to use harmful chemicals when fighting harmful pathogens, the old fight fire with fire?

As an additional resource, to consumers and end-users, the EPA created the Safer Choice Program to identify products that use safer alternative chemicals without sacrificing efficiency. This list of only 2,000 products have been further tested to guarantee performance while utilizing ONLY Safer Choice qualified ingredients. The DfE Certification not only ensures environmental sustainability but safer use with children, pets, and in the workplace.

This is what the EPA has to say about the presence of the Designed for Environment Certification on products:

If you see the DfE logo on an EPA-authorized antimicrobial pesticide label, you can be assured that the product:

• is in the least-hazardous classes (i.e., III and IV) of EPA’s acute toxicity category hierarchy;
• is unlikely to have carcinogenic or endocrine disruptor properties;
• is unlikely to cause developmental, reproductive, mutagenic, or neurotoxicity issues;
• EPA has reviewed and accepted mixtures, including inert ingredients;
• does not require the use of Agency-mandated personal protective equipment;
• has no unresolved or unreasonable adverse effects reported;
• has no unresolved efficacy failures (associated with the Antimicrobial Testing Program or otherwise);
• has no unresolved compliance or enforcement actions associated with it; and
• has the identical formulation as the one identified in the DfE application approved by EPA.

Sometimes it is the little things that matter, and in this case that little thing can help in a huge way. With current cleaning practices being much higher than usual, we are putting more disinfecting products on surfaces exposed to children, people with allergies, and pets more often than ever. Many cleaning and disinfecting products require PPE, leave behind residue, or need to be thoroughly rinsed off before any food-contact.

In the hotel and foodservice environment among the hustle and bustle of everyday business, exposure to these products is almost guaranteed. The CDC reports that 1 out of 3 adults use disinfecting products in a harmful way. We certainly need better education on “best practices” but putting the right products in place is a very important part of the puzzle.

Pets and children (maybe some adults) tend to touch and/or lick the areas you may least expect, so making sure all surfaces use the safest products available should be the #1 priority of all Facility Managers. This makes sure that even if an area isn’t fully rinsed, meant for certain types of contact, or had the time to properly dry; you are mitigating the risk of possibly harmful transfer of chemicals to  your teams and patrons.

After all fighting fire with fire just sounds like a recipe for more damage, because it is…

If you are looking for products that help with Well Certification’s Preferred Cleaning Products criteria, or products that can help support your lead qualification, the EPA DfE list will help with that as well.

See a complete list of products on the EPA’s site here: EPA DfE Product Search

It looks like Apple is getting smarter with their product care directions, and trying to make sure their products last a bit longer. In a recent Support Documentation update Apple warns against using hydrogen peroxide or bleach based disinfectants on their products.  You also should NOT submerge your Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, display or peripheral…but we hope that is more obvious. You can find hydrogen peroxide in many popular products including Lysol.

Hydrogen peroxide can create stress cracks and other issues in hard and soft surfaces.

Hydrogen peroxide is a better alternative to “Quat” based disinfectants, but still presents issues in both hard and soft surfaces prevalent in many environments. Hydrogen peroxide can create issues in hard surfaces such as acrylic, causing stress cracks after some rigorous 24 hour testing compared to citrus-acid based wipes. You can see effects to soft materials where there can be some degradation and swelling under testing as well.

What does this mean in Hospitality and Foodservice?

When it comes to FF&E and OS&E you should take into consideration what your teams Housekeeping teams are using. Cleaning and disinfecting products should not cut down the lifespan of the equipment in your environment, or be possibly be harmful to your staff and patrons. In Hotel Gyms wipes were used heavily even pre-pandemic and replacement costs on hard and soft surfaces in this environment can be very high. Materials like acrylic are used through many interior designs within the Lobby and Guest Rooms, from area dividers to room number signage.  You start thinking about performance fabrics used in general areas or foodservice seating and the long term costs could get interesting.

If you work with a 90 minute turnover rate time across a restaurant open say 8 hours, that is about 11 parties seated. We would like to imagine, at the moment especially, that these seats are being cleaned after each party. Now depending on how corrosive to the material the cleaner may be, its no wonder there seems to be a shortage of unworn seats at lots of diners.

Save your property on “ghost costs” and make the right supply chain decisions.

Using the wrong products can create hidden maintenance costs, and in a business environment where every dollar counts, it matters. Making sure decision makers in Housekeeping and Procurement are aware of the environment and and health costs associated with common disinfectants should always be a priority.

How does Channel specific Brand Management stack up?

This is a great option for many organizations, teaming up with a Marketing Partner that has experience in the Distribution Supply Chain of interest. Many times they can help save you hours and dollars in understanding the audience and how you must evolve your messaging. They may be aware of market trends and best practices that are not as obvious as one might hope.

You can see great working examples of this through the Consumer and Commercial markets, many times one wouldn’t even notice where say a Pepsi Co ended and their Marketing Partner takes over. It seems this usually works best, and mostly, in the upper tiers of the product performance tree. Where questions aren’t asked quite as much because there is plenty of Revenue to go around.

However, when you are not the titan in the room, and look to Brand Management to help grow in a previously difficult market, questions get asked. There is a certain aloof feeling for many Executives towards their Marketing Partners when an organization is in a heavy growth phase. Sometimes ROI can be hard to track, especially in less technology dependent Supply Chains, which leads to complicated evaluations of partner value.

Traditional Marketing Partner Challenges

As the Marketing Partner model leaves them without the proverbial “seat at the table”, in a mature Supply Chain, it also means they have a bit less “skin in the game” to an extent. Like every relationship, advantages and disadvantages are a part of doing business. When looking to launch INTO a market with no presence the biggest issue is actually large format Resellers or Distributors. If these relationships have not already been developed, Marketing Partners can prove to find difficulty with creating traction in Commercial Equipment Channels of any kind.

If they do find traction, and the Purchasing Lanes have not been established, it could set your orders back weeks, months, or have customer moving on to something easy to purchase. Not a situation you want to find your team in, instead of celebrating their new success. You may instead find yourself worrying about the organizations reputation to deliver, and trying to patch up valuable relationships.

Can “Channel as a Service” offer a more complete DMS solution?

The idea of Channel as a Service is to offer a Distribution, Marketing, and Sales (DMS) Management experience that is integrated with the industry it serves completely. The feasibility of such, many times, depends on the existing Supply Chain model and how margins are passed down. In a perfect world you may have a partner who can accomplish all three, but more commonly today are Marketing & Sales Management programs that do their best to influence DMR (Direct Market Reseller) or Distribution Sales Teams.

End-Users purchase from the Channel because they are looking for more than the best price, they are looking for a relationship. Thankfully this mantra follows through with the Sales Teams in the Channel, which means that influence can go a long way. Sometimes the simple difference of which similar product link a Territory or Account Manager decides is a better option for their customer, comes from more than it being the best price. Most associate the level of support they are given in this situation to the level of support their customer will receive, enough said. When they are making that decision with the buying power of an entire  Hotel Chain or Restaurant Group in mind, relationships become more than relevant.

Combined with the ability to bring your brand messaging to the proper door, the right way, these partners support with their own personnel packages and Channel Management tools. In all efforts they walk and talk the Brand and, because of the investment they make into each program, generally look for multi-year contracts with established Manufacturers.

This Channel Management model has existing in Commercial Technology and other industries for decades, perhaps just lacking the new-fangled terminology. However, it is what has lead the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Xerox, and others to the top of the Technology Distribution Supply Chain

Supply Chain Integrated Resources (SCIR), they matter. How do we define them?

Stepping beyond traditional Brand Management into an even more holistic relationship (Channel Management) with longer commitments is a big part of the solution, but still doesn’t solve the “seat at the table” issue or help manufacturers “break into” a new market. This can only be solved, by what we would call, a Supply Chain Integrated experience, in which the Channel Partner has existing Product Lanes at the National level Distribution.

!Opinion Warning!

First, let me make it very clear, I feel that most markets have been somewhat plagued with half-thought marketing relationships, an aging sales model, and/or an “All I have to do is beat the competitors price” mentality. This, for me, is part of what led many markets into the “Amazon Era”. That aging sales model left customers in Commercial and Consumer markets alike feeling unsupported and the marketing relationships without vision put all the eggs into the “price driven e-commerce” sellers basket (reference Toy R’ Us bankruptcy).

!End Opinion!

Fast-forward and there is now a great effort to increase value to the customer and the idea that consumer feedback is trending, may even be an understatement. Supply Chain Integration allows a Channel Partner to react quickly to changes and assume a level of responsibility unlike before.

Having the ability to understand the business at a deeper level, with the inclusion of a consolidated Channel Distribution Management relationship, offers a few key advantages:

Playing by the “Channel” rules, mostly.

This type of Channel relationship integration is not without its challenges though. The solutions can only come with experience and a very detailed program, which clearly outlines not only the opportunity for your business but the commitments required for success. Knowledge of multiple category pricing models, distribution margin thresholds, balanced rebate programs, and distributor specific culture are just scratching the surface of what the right Channel as a Service package should offer.

Since many National Distributors or DMRs won’t open new accounts without Enterprise level End-User support for your product, a CaaS program that is properly Supply Chain Integrated offers unique opportunity to up and coming innovation. And as we look to innovate the supply chain, it is only natural for a path to be built in the face of resistance.

Food safety protocols are perhaps some of the most stringent safety regulations among broader business requirements. Making sure what we eat is safe has kept our country healthier than most, from very early on and kept profitable production lines going. Now Foodservice is faced with an intense new combatant in Covid-19, keeping the industry closed in many areas and in need of help everywhere.

As re-opening or loosening guidelines and precautions starts to spread, Restaurants and Bars will begin to test the cleaning and disinfecting solutions put in place. Among those concerns should be,  “What is in those cleaning products” and at the top (and what is concerning) are “quats”.  Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, basically a line list of harmful chemicals that usually end in “onium chloride” that do a great job on Covid-19, and have their own list of other possible affects they leave behind with their residue.

• Potent skin irritants and can cause rashes and dermatitis.
• Cleaning workers exposed regularly to “quats” have developed occupational asthma.
• Reproductive harm, potentially affecting fertility, and possibly leading to birth defects.
• Widespread use of quats is contributing to the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, leading to the development of “superbugs” that cannot be controlled with antibiotics.

These types of disinfectants don’t really feel like they fit the bill for our essential Foodservice Workers or  their customers. Yet this is what is produced from most of your “big brands” and made available to distributors and resellers. “Quats” tend to keep prices low and are complete with warnings and directions that according to a recent CDC survey, regarding household cleaning practices, a THIRD of responders don’t adhere to. Now we know Foodservice teams are FAR more efficient than any of us at home, but the idea that these guidelines are obviously under-communicated is alarming.

Finding the right choice may be a bit more difficult, but it will be well worth it to your family at work and the families who visit. Products utilizing citric acid, lactic acid,  hydrogen peroxide, or thymol are safer options but should still be used properly according to instructions and warning.

They have the proper, EPA N-Listed, Covid-19 killing power but just like “quats” are subject to efficacy times. Surfaces must be left WET for the stated time frame in order to actually disinfect and even sanitize. This tends to be anywhere from 2-10 minutes, depending on how powerful the ingredients are most times.

Let’s make the right choices not only for our food-contact surfaces, but the entire environment, and offer a safer home to our family and restaurant goers alike.

Want more information on disinfecting in Hospitality & Foodservice? Check out our related article “Are you using the right cleaning products in your Hotel or Resort Lobby?”

Source:

Chemical & Engineering News – Do we know enough about the safety of “quat” disinfectants?

Women’s Voice For Earth – Cleaning with Pesticides? Quit the Quats!

CDC – Knowledge and Practices Regarding Safe Household Cleaning and Disinfection for COVID-19 Prevention — United States, May 2020

UMass Lowell – Disinfectants Can Kill the Coronavirus, but Can Also Harm Health

When the Supply Chain trusts too many people, it’s an issue.

Mentioning “Supply Chain” to us means a developed network of trusted partners with a proven track record of doing their part to bring a major end-user group a product. This means from raw material to specialized delivery resources, everyone has it figured out and has put their experience to use preparing for challenges. This can be a particularly challenging area to break into, especially in Hospitality and Foodservice Distribution, and for good reason.

There are always those challenges you just cannot prepare for, the ones you can only learn as you go through. At this point, those in the Supply Chain are reminded of what may happen when you must rely on new partners and vendors to keep the wheels turning (literally):

• Care New England unknowingly distributing counterfeit masks
• 3M has seized over 3.5 million counterfeit masks
• 3M shuts down close to 12,000 fraudulent online mask sellers
• 500,000 counterfeit masks seized by the Chicago CBP in September
• CDC Develops an EXTENSIVE list of counterfeit manufacturers
• 20,000 fake masks supplied to 10 hospitals around Bangledesh

And that is hardly even the tip of the iceberg. LinkedIn has becoming a sounding alarm to scammers, fraudulent BUYERS, and dishonest sellers alike. Playing host to an outpouring of tough to read stories and facilities in dire situations, has become way too common of a place for a network usually steaming with energized professionals looking to change the world.

Thankfully “Supply Chain Heroes” were born as well, with major operations moving mountains to migrate into PPE production from hand sanitizers to reusable masks and gowns. This is the ingenious human nature that built the strong base we function on today, but even it was not enough, and shortages persist even now.

A shift in the Supply Chain “Brotherhood”

Being part of a major supply chain is without a doubt an invaluable asset to most businesses. It is the backbone to the Hospitality, Restaurant, Automotive, Education and Consumer Electronics industries among many others. In history nudging your way into this brotherhood was made exceedingly difficult thanks to relationships and stringent service standards that would send some right out of business.

Recently one could notice a softening of these guidelines and “members only” conditions. The ever more volatile shift in consumer trends and available technology has birthed a more embracing approach to partnerships anew. Looking to offer market leading services and products now means incorporating sometimes less proven or even unproven resources to some.

The point opens here that even partners new to the scene, the same as its legacy seats, serve themselves best to stick to a similar detailed process that created the stewards of their industry. Tempering your groundbreaking moves with real world vision and being self-aware of accountability to others becomes essential. As we start to develop a snapshot of the “new norm” deviation from this mindset, while coming to market with what may be lifesaving solutions, could become a more common yet dangerous common occurrence.

Flexibility, Expectations, and Investment are all REQUIRED

Established and newer organizations both tend to struggle with understanding how rewarding adapting to the needs of another “link” in a mature supply chain is. Relationship leads tend to imagine they know best on both sides of the ball, but without proper exposure to errors which give reason to seemingly pointless guidelines. Only revealing itself after a mess has been created, obviously communication and a respect for the process are the first steps to being a consistent (good) partner.

The right relationship leads to a more than measurable jolt of the meter most times. When proper expectations are met, and everyone in the loop is honest about their strengths and WEAKNESSES, a real synergy is born. It presents itself as the base line for any good organization…repeat, high volume, and forecast friendly REVENUE. If you want to know how to get on your first Marriott or Fridays bid, these players are the holy grail.

Of course, none of this applies to those that have gone beyond just “pushing the limits” and ventured into trunk slamming and internet scamming. We will just have to hope enough people get wise and enough whistles are blown before more damage is done.

Our parting Supply Chain advice to all?

If you want to stick around, just be careful; ask for references, google everything, and obviously check LinkedIn before making promises to the next “link” in your Supply Chain. Avoid the “too good to be true” situations and reinforce open communication no matter if you are a Manufacturer, Distributor, Reseller, or even End-User. If more “links” in the supply chain are willing to do their part and pay attention to detail, accountability stands a better chance at surviving these times for everyone.

Source:

Original Article – NonTheory Business Services

As the Hospitality and Foodservice market makes the appropriate adjustments and looks to re-open in many areas, it is obvious the way we do business is going to change. The traditionally warm face-to-face relationships that make the HoReCa Supply Chain a family, will be a part of this shift for sure.

Manufactures, Reps, and Distributors alike are faced with gauging how quickly business may return in order to bring teams, and even mangement, back to the mix.

This extra pressure on the industry begs the question, how can our Resellers and Distributors be as effective as usual with their hands tied?

Hospitality and Foodservice Distributors have been adopting more technology driven solutions pre-Covid, but at a comfortable pace. Other industries such as Commercial Technology and Consumer Electronics boast an abundance of mature web based distribution resources. While there are certainly leaders in the channel, this is still very much an evolving component to the HoReCa Supply Chain.

The resourceful nature of teams and organizations within Hospitality and Foodservice suggests serious innovation ahead. Leaders are looking to refining their online customer portals and ensuring the integration of all team communication channels, while continuing to reach for the best solutions in sanitization technology. Some have suggested $9 Billion in new costs to hotel properties in efforts to follow new guidelines, the actual cost to the Supply Chain will be much larger, as one of the only industries to avoid a larger downturn is Commercial Technology sales.

This forced the first signs of what could be a somewhat frustrating yet necessary move to more remote roles, workplace guidelines, and cloud business management resources. When allowed to carefully plan these moves, consisting of hundreds to the thousands of employees and some of the oldest operational systems in use, they can be a cumbersome project management task. Taking into account the current environment, the family element of this industry will be the saving grace. People tend to make the difference and it will likely be no different here.

Increased utilization of Social Media and a strategy for better measurable engagement should be on the minds of every marketing professional, if they want to make the most of the market ahead. Converting this engagement to acquisition and making sure the breadcrumbs are clear is easier than it sounds, but crucial. Bridging the gap between online, field, and back office software ensures a complete customer story at every employees fingertips, this omni-channel type of efficiency is what a slow come back will need.

The better we can maximize on the capabilities of support teams, without over burdening work loads, the smoother a return to normal in Hospitality and Foodservice will be. Thankfully, some Resellers and Distributors, like Guest Supply, are providing financial resources to help with the increased spend. This is allowing fast access to important tools for properties to evolve and proving why they are an integral part of the Supply Chain.

Perhaps some of the silver lining will be more a more efficient Supply Chain outfitted with flexible software, remote readiness, and an improved customer experience?