Metro CEO outlines actions taken to prevent virus spread

March 17, 2020, Montreal, Que. – Eric La Flèche, president and CEO of Metro Inc., has written an open letter to customers, explaining actions the grocer is taking to protect them in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

“We understand that the current situation related to COVID-19 is disrupting your lives and raising many questions and concerns,” he writes in the letter. “Please rest assured that all our food stores and affiliated pharmacies are taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our customers and employees. Your well-being and that of our teams is at the heart of every decision we make.

“In addition to setting up a special committee to closely monitor the situation and stay in touch with public health officials, we have implemented additional preventive measures. Grocery stores and pharmacists-owners already have very high hygiene and sanitization standards in the normal course of their activities, as we contribute to your health every day.”

He noted the company has taken a number of preventive measures, including:

• increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfection of the grocery stores and pharmacies, including equipment and the most frequented areas of stores;
• increasing sanitization measures throughout the supply chain to ensure that the products that arrive in stores and pharmacies are as safe as possible;
• asking employees who are not feeling well to stay home and take all necessary precautions;
• asking employees to adhere to strict hygiene practices; and
• removing all testers from the beauty and perfume sections and suspending the use of testers in the cosmetic department of pharmacies.

La Flèche noted that all Metro stores remain open and the company is taking the necessary steps to avoid stock shortages as much as possible.

He said stores have the latitude to apply a limit of two products per customer on the products that are most in demand to ensure that the greatest number of customers have access to the products they want.

“Our distribution centre, store, pharmacy, and online grocery teams are making every effort possible to ensure product availability and to meet the recent spike in demand. The situation is far from perfect and is evolving rapidly, but our teams are working relentlessly to make it happen and meet your needs.”

Metro Inc. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Quebec and Ontario with more than 65,000 employees and annual sales of more than $11 billion.