The is part of an ongoing series on the current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic as it escalates quickly and completely disrupts the restaurant world. Yesterday, policy makers in several major cities and states in the US forced dine-in only restaurants to close their doors, or changed their business model to take-out and delivery. This is obviously taking a major toll on restaurant owners and operators, some of which are reporting 50%+ drop in sales this past weekend. Those numbers are expected to be much lower this week. Us distributors are feeling the pressure of the coronavirus as well, working diligently to consolidate routes, vendors, products, and delivery days; and provide creative solutions for our customer groups who are rapidly losing their customers. What an incredibly challenging time to be in the service industry.

I recorded this quickly between meetings today, 3/17 (oh yes, happy St. Patty's :)) in hopes of posting it mid-day. It's now 10pm and I'm able to shut down email and get this edited and published.

• How Restaurants and Distributors Are Handling COVID-19