Whitehall Specialties employees are an impressive, hard-working bunch. While the country is battling an pandemic the likes of which we haven’t seen in ages, our team is putting in extra hours and finding creative ways to stay safe while keeping our country’s stores and restaurants supplied with cheese and cheese products. Here are a few examples of our team in action.
Filling the need for comfort foods
- Employees at our Slippery Rock, PA are working 24/7 to fill orders for dried and grated parmesan and other must-haves for stay-at-home staples such as lasagna and deep-dish pizza. Our hard-working Hillsboro, WI plant employees are helping out so no one has to go without an extra sprinkle on their spaghetti.
- Plant 2 employees in Whitehall, WI are producing individually wrapped cheese slices, among other products, at record-breaking speed. In March, they produced enough cheese slices for 9,963 grilled cheese sandwiches. Wow!
- Our other Whitehall facility is laser-focused on plant-based cheeses: our NewFields division. This industry segment has grown 18% according to data from the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association, as more people embrace plant-based diets to support their health as well as the environment. Ellen DeGeneres even gave out gift cards to be used for plant-based cheese during her annual Earth Day giveaway. Check it out here (at 3:50).
Social distancing, the Whitehall way
- Making cheese is more of a team sport than an individual pursuit, so our team had to get creative to stay safe while meeting the needs of our customers. One way we accomplished this is by stretching our workday so fewer employees would be on the floor at any given time. Kudos to those who changed their routines to keep up production.
- Our forward-thinking team members also created plexiglass dividers to keep us all safe despite working in tight quarters. Thanks to this ingenuity, we didn’t miss a beat during this unprecedented challenge.
- Our Whitehall, WI Human Resources department took to the road, setting up shop at Outright Affair, a favorite local restaurant with available space during the stay-at-home order. This enabled them to stay connected while meeting social distancing guidelines and supporting a favorite community hangout.
As impressive as it is, the hard work, creativity and courage demonstrated over the past month is typical WSI. Our Wisconsin-based company has been known for our small-town values, unparalleled R&D and a strong Midwestern work ethic for years. Now you can add hometown heroes to the list.
Do you have what it takes to be a WSI team member? Check out our current opportunities.