Coronavirus (COVID-19)

MDLZ Managing the Coronavirus Outbreak

Updated: April 27, 2020

As concerns around the spread of the coronavirus continue to increase, it is our top priority to protect the health and safety of our employees, partners and customers in close collaboration with global institutions and local health authorities. In parallel, we are working to ensure business continuity and continue to serve our customers worldwide.

Given the rapidly evolving situation, we are following the practice of many other companies and authorities and restricting travel for colleagues all around the world and limiting the gathering of large meetings globally. We are also implementing additional hygiene and social distancing measures to reduce the frequency and contact between our employees wherever possible, including enhanced remote working in many facilities where possible and appropriate.

We continue to monitor the situation around the clock and update these measures when and where needed.

Response Management

Our Special Situations Management Teams around the world are globally coordinating but locally implementing relevant measures, plans and actions to protect our employees while ensuring business continuity. This includes, but is not limited to, travel and meeting restrictions, social distancing and remote working guidance, health screenings and enhanced workplace sanitation and personal hygiene guidance.

These actions are informed by industry best practices as well as federal and local government guidance.

Importantly, Mondelēz International, in line with authorities such as the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control, do not see any food safety risk relating to food transmission of the virus. We want to assure consumers that our products are safe to enjoy. Mondelēz International factories are currently running as normal and there are no formal border restrictions to the flow of goods.

Facilities & Remote Working

We are doing our part to increase social distancing and have recommended that many office-based employees work remotely. Local business leaders can determine what is best for their respective facilities. In some markets, teams have moved to completely remote working, providing employees with the IT guidance and support they need to stay fully productive outside of the office. In other markets we’ve implemented a “50/50 workforce” with separate populations of employees rotating in and out of certain facilities. In locations such as manufacturing facilities or markets where employees are needed on-site, we’ve done detailed local risk assessments and adopted a number of enhanced protocols including social distancing and enhanced personal hygiene and workplace sanitation.

Travel Guidance for Employees

We’ve implemented travel restrictions or bans in and across our markets and are sharing local information on quarantine procedures for those who have traveled to and from certain markets in the last 14 days. Large events and gatherings of employees have been cancelled.

Supporting Relief Efforts

We are supporting global relief efforts through our global and local philanthropic community partnerships like Save The Children, CARE and the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent. Our contributions to the Red Cross support their Annual Disaster Giving Program and Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.

As announced March 23, 2020, we will donate $15 million in financial and in-kind support to community partners advancing critical food stability and emergency relief efforts across the world in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Support for this program will come from the Mondelēz International Foundation as well as global and local brand initiatives.

Learn more about local initiatives and local recipients of our financial and in-kind support around the world.

Enhanced U.S. Colleague Support and Benefits

Mondelēz International has already implemented enhanced protocols and protections to provide a safe and sanitary work environment for our colleagues, including significant steps to support employees in our manufacturing facilities, distribution and logistics operations and sales organizations. In the U.S., we announced additional support for employees who are doing such important work during this challenging time, including:

A $2 per-hour increase, based on number of hours worked (paid as a lump sum), from March 23rd through May 2nd, for our Manufacturing, Distribution and Sales hourly workforce
A $125 per-week bonus for our Sales Representatives

These benefits will go to the more than 10,000 frontline colleagues who are making, selling and distributing products to retail partners across the country. In addition, any impacted U.S.-based employees will receive up to two (2) additional weeks of paid leave at 100% of pay, less any statutory pay received for the same period. We will continue to assess further needs and opportunities to support employees as the situation evolves.

Hiring Additional U.S. Employees

To meet additional marketplace demand and reinforce our current workforce, we've also announced that we expect to hire 1,000 frontline U.S. employees to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of our U.S. distribution and sales network in the coming months.

How We Are Protecting Those at the Heart of our Cocoa Life Program

The COVID-19 pandemic is an incredibly serious health challenge that puts some of the world’s most vulnerable people at risk – a group that includes the cocoa farmers registered in our Cocoa Life program and their communities. The health and wellbeing of these communities, our employees, and our partners is our utmost priority at Mondelēz International and Cocoa Life, as we seek to provide an uninterrupted supply of sustainably sourced cocoa for our brands.

Across all of our origins, we are continuing to follow the advice of local government and health authorities. While we are monitoring the situation daily, and updating our measures accordingly, we felt it important to openly set out the three-tiered approach we are taking to tackle this crisis in our cocoa growing countries.

From an industry perspective, we are investing in the collective response efforts convened by the World Cocoa Foundation, funding immediate COVID-19 education and protection activities in cocoa-growing communities.
On a corporate level, through Mondelēz International's $15 million global commitment to support relief efforts around the world, funds will be distributed to trusted Cocoa Life partner Save the Children.
Most crucially for us, we are working in our Cocoa Life countries to provide localized response efforts, in line with the need on the ground. Tailoring our interventions is more important now than ever before.

Read Cocoa Life’s full statement and learn about country-specific interventions at www.cocoalife.org/covid-19.

Business Update

Mondelēz International plans to provide financial commentary in its first quarter earnings release on April 28th.