EPIA | Managing Director’s Report – April 2020

Coronavirus Wreaks Havoc for the European Packaged Ice Association

Today the package ice industry in Europe is being severely challenged by this COVID-19 pandemic. Not just our industry, but virtually all industries are about to be stressed to extreme limits. The ice sales season is concentrated in a short period of months during the summer. Sure there are other times of year when packaged ice is demanded, but the vast amount of ice sales is during the hot months when people are vacationing and enjoying life to the fullest. This year will be different.

We are told to practice social distancing, no crowds, no concerts, no sports events, basically shelter in place and avoid contact when possible.

Just a reminder of daily activities that have changed due to this pandemic:

In October of 2020, the EPIA will congregate in this safe harbor area to meet and swap tales of selling ice throughout Europe.

Gas prices dropped from over $3.00 per gallon to only $1.33 per gallon in the US which is approximately €0.35 per liter;
School, public schools and colleges, cancelled for the balance of the year;
Social distancing measures in place everywhere with tape of the floors at grocery stores and other stores still open to help distance shoppers 2 meters from each other;
Non-essential stores and businesses mandated to be closed;
Essential stores mandated to having only a limited number of people allowed inside at one time, therefore lines outside with people standing in a line two meters apart;
Parks, trails, picnic pavilions and in some cases entire cities locked down;
All sporting events both amateur and professional cancelled;
Concerts, tours, festivals, all entertainment events cancelled;
Weddings, family celebrations, birthday parties, funerals, and holiday gatherings cancelled;
Churches closed;
Initially being told to have no gatherings of 50 people or more people, then 20, then 10, and now recommended to have no non-essential gatherings and being told not to socialize with anyone outside of your home;
Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for health providers;
Shortage of ventilators for those critically ill;
Panic buying of some products and therefore we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no laundry soap, and no hand sanitizers and bare shelves everywhere;
Manufacturers, distilleries, and other businesses switch their production lines to help make masks, visors, hand sanitizer, and other personal protection equipment;
Government closes the U.S. border to all non-essential travel and some states not allowing travel between states with fines for breaking the rules;
Stadiums, conference centers, and recreation facilities reconfigured and opened for overflow Coronavirus patients;
Press conferences with daily status from the President and his Coronavirus Task Force with updates on new cases and deaths by country, county, and cities around the world;
People wearing face masks and gloves wherever they go if they go out at all;
Essential service workers are terrified to go to work and then after they do, they are afraid to go home to their family.

The side effects are wide-ranging and will result in a very different 2020. The damage to personal income will reduce the vacations and excursions later this year and probably also next year. The significant reduction in leisure activities will take its toll on our members’ businesses. Governments around the world are scrambling to help individuals, as well as, small and large businesses with economic stimuli, emotional support, and public encouragement. In spite of all the potential help from all directions, we will each need time to recover from this terrible situation. We and the packaged ice industry in Europe will survive, but it will take more than this 2020 selling season. During this time the EPIA directors are doing as much as possible to help our members weather this storm.

Our packaged ice association, the EPIA, is not merely a social club, but is the extended family made up of responsible packaged ice producers, distributors, and all member companies providing the items that make ice production possible. Your elected Board of Directors has the responsibility to guide the EPIA actions to help build a strong packaged ice industry in Europe. We can only do that with physically and financially healthy members.

With this responsibility in mind, we have been discussing during the past few weeks, how best to help our members. Some of the things we have evaluated are as follows:

With Europe experiencing elevated infections from CoronaVirus, there is significant concern and certainty that:
- Spring and early summer travel is expected to be severely reduced as people are restricted from congregating in confined spaces such as planes, restaurants, sporting events, and large gatherings.
- 2020 summer leisure activities will be impacted and the certainty of a significant decline in packaged ice sales for this coming peak ice sales season will happen.
How long with the restricted travel and reluctance and government direction not to congregate last? However long, it would most likely cause significantly reduced attendance at the Malta convention?
- These personal and government restrictions have just begun, but will most likely last for some length of time and have dire effects on our individual businesses and possibly our individual health.

Your EPIA BoD will be supporting our members to the extent we can throughout this very detrimental biological event. The immediate steps we have taken are as follows:

Reduce the dues by 50% for members during 2020.
- Delay 2020 dues payment date from 31 March 2020 until 1 September 2020 without penalty.
  - This could somewhat alleviate so cash flow issues for 2020.
  - This would also help to retain membership levels due to this significant reduction in 2020 ice sales during the peak ice sales season.
- Some members have already paid their 2020 dues or will pay by 31 March 2020. For those members we will:
  - Credit the 50% overpayment toward the 2021 dues invoice.
  - As a “thank you” for making it possible for the EPIA to remain solvent during this terrible situation, those member companies will be rewarded one night free at the convention hotel in 2021.

We then have the financial risks associated with the convention in Malta during 5-9 October 2020. Each year we start our convention planning almost immediately after the convention just held. Again this year we commenced this planning with a hotel selection in December/January and settled a negotiated contract in February. At this point we obligate the EPIA for financial exposure for many facilities, services, events, and other activities associated with the convention. With the CoronaVirus upheaval, we have been discussing at length how to keep the EPIA safe from forfeited security deposits required for the hotel meeting space, hotel services for meals and events, as well as rooms, translation services, special events, transportation, and all the incidentals associated with the convention planning. Our first step many weeks ago was to negotiate a no initial deposit with the signed contract with the hotel. Our agreed-upon initial deposit for hotel services has now been substituted with a first right of refusal in the event another organization were to contract for our space and time slot. This agreement with the hotel is still in effect and actually saves us a great deal of money for the time being. But with the pandemic only getting worse and the expectation for an early recovery is looking dim, our current options looked to be as follows:

Postpone convention dates to later in 2020.
Cancel 2020 convention contract completely.
Plan to keep the Ax Palace hotel in Malta as the venue but delay until 2021 during our normal convention time of year – Late September through late October.

One of the most beneficial activities for EPIA members is the ability to congregate and exchange ideas, successes, failures, lessons learned, and new approaches to ice production. With a great deal of disappointment, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 convention in Malta for October 2020. We will be discussing this with the hotel and will reschedule the same venue for October 2021.

Please follow your countries guidelines and protect yourselves, families, and loved ones from this virus and take whatever steps needed to keep your businesses sound for 2020 and the future.

We are the package ice industry of Europe. We need all of us to individually continue to build the packaged ice industry of the future with “Ice You Can Trust.”