The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Lee Strand: a pillar of community support during COVID-19...
LEE STRAND continued to produce the freshest milk in Kerry for its loyal customers during the Covid-19 lockdown. Working in the food industry a high standard of hygiene and food safety procedures were already in place within the creamery. However, with the onset of Covid-19 several challenges faced Lee Strand to ensure, firstly, the safety of their team and, secondly, Lee Strand continued to supply customers with the freshest milk during the crisis.
On March 12th when the closure of schools was announced, Lee Strand experienced the immediate effect of panic buying within the county. Thankfully, the infrastructure within Lee Strand and the fact Lee Strand is a local brand within Kerry ensured the shelves in stores were kept fully stocked with Lee Strand products. Lee Strand received great praise from retailers and customers for continuing their high level of service delivery during Covid-19.
Despite the lockdown, farming needed to continue, the cows still needed to be milked and Lee Strand’s dedicated farmers continued to supply the creamery in Tralee with the freshest milk every day. Lee Strand’s employees have been fantastic during Covid-19 with full commitment to the Covid-19 procedures put in place. To ensure the safety of the Lee Strand team, some of the measures Lee Strand put in place were: temperature checks on arrival; social distancing; PPE and face visors; closure of staff canteen; revised entry and exit system; contact tracing forms; Covid-19 training; cleaning of all surfaces three times per day, followed by a deep cleaning with contract cleaners every evening.
Lee Strand also stayed true to supporting the community during Covid-19 by donating milk and products to SVP and Kerry Foodshare for meals on wheels. To lift the spirts of the community, Lee Strand rolled out a fun three-week promotion on Radio Kerry for primary school pupils in Kerry.
Each day children participated in different tasks - writing stories, poems, songs, making smoothies and creating new innovations from Lee Strand cartons of milk. Every child who entered received a personalised Mighty Mikey Milk activity pack in the post to brighten up their day during the lockdown.
During Covid-19 Lee Strand officially celebrated its 100 years in business on April 30th. Despite the lockdown, Lee Strand marked the day with giveaways, lots of great memories, stories, folklore of days gone by in the creamery.
Lee Strand is really looking forward to the future and in particular to June 29th when we will welcome back and deliver to all our hospitality customers. It will be fantastic to see the tourism sector open its doors once again in the Kingdom!