AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM SAMEER - CEO

Dear Colleagues,

First and foremost, I hope that you, your family, and your friends are all safe, and are doing your utmost to remain positive, in spite of these unprecedented and challenging times.

Depending on which part of the world you and your loved ones are in, you are in one of three probable scenarios: you are getting out of; are bang in the middle of; or, are still entering the pandemic. In any of these stages, there is a great uncertainty about what the world economy may eventually look like.

Your Persistence Has Made a Difference
Throughout Perfetti Van Melle, extraordinary measures have been taken to ensure the health and well-being of our employees and to continue the production and delivery of our products to our customers and consumers. All of our leadership joins me in appreciation of these impressive feats. We should all be proud that we are one of the few companies not to experience significant supply side disruptions. Now, though, we will have to be flexible on the supply chain side, as consumer demand comes under increasing pressure.

Health Situation is Improving
Fortunately, we are beginning to see the public health situation improve, albeit only in some parts of the world. There has been a gradual return to some sense of normalcy in China and Korea. We anticipate similar improvements in parts of Europe and some other markets within the next few weeks.

Preparing for a New Normal
The improvements in health we are seeing, however, will not immediately end the impact these country-by-country shutdowns have had, and will continue to have, on our global economy. Nor will the health improvements immediately resolve the impact on our category and our business. We must take the right steps to ensure our post-pandemic resurgence.

Within a global organization such as ours, one size obviously does not fit all. We have to think about our “new normal” for both the short and longer term on a market-by-market basis. We must also have an action plan for each possible scenario within each market. Together, your local leadership and our Executive Committee have been doing just that – evaluating and strategically building plans for each scenario.

Responsibility
During these difficult times, many corporations have had to freeze salaries to protect against potential losses. We have not. Instead, we have gone forward with our increment cycle in recognition of efforts and accomplishments. We must, however, remain mindful of the tremendous responsibility we continue to shoulder.

Now more than ever, we must all do our part to help manage costs efficiently and avoid non-essential spending. It’s imperative that we all take an active, problem-solving, unearthing-new-opportunities approach, which will help us make sound, long-term business improvements. We must actively look at, re-evaluate and, in some cases, even rewire our current business models to ensure we are in peak shape for the future. Taking a keener look and working on a more functional product assortment is especially relevant today.

Rely on Your Leaders
You can count on the leadership of your local organization to determine and keep you informed of the best measures for ensuring the continued safety of our employees, as well as a strong and sound revival of our business. At the Group level, we will also do our part to share with you what is happening – challenges faced and successes achieved. And, although we delayed the official roll-out of several initiatives, including our Blueprint and Sustainability Plan and our new Employer Branding, to allow operating companies space to focus fully on navigating through the pandemic, work on these initiatives and others has continued. You’ll soon be receiving updates on these.

Transparency
During these difficult days, none of us will shy away from admitting, as the saying goes, “We don’t know what we don’t know.” There is a great deal that we will learn as we go. What we do know, of course, is that the current and volatile scenario requires us to be far more flexible and far more creative than we may ever have imagined.

Together
With a strong sense of purpose, we will work together through the current and post-pandemic challenges, continue our winning trajectory and emerge the strong industry leader we have always been. As we all do our part, let’s remember that our “can do” attitude and innovative spirit are what have always given Perfetti Van Melle the capacity to overcome even the most challenging obstacles.

Sincerely,
Sameer